Coming this July 7th at the Amsterdam Brewery, we’d like to announce the First Ever/Annual Locals Only Festival of Food, Music, and Art. Presented by TAG Vodka and hosted in partnership with Earmilk, SalaciousSound, Pink Mafia, Everyone Is An Artist, ElectriCITY Events, and ourselves here at The New Toronto, the Locals Only Festival will host 15+ live acts and DJ’s, 10+ Food Vendors and Trucks, and 10+ Visual Artists across two indoor and outdoor stages.

To be honest, I’m not sure what I’m more excited about….the amazing variety of food or the incredible lineup of local artists that have been assembled including some of our favorites like Ryan Hemsworth, Jesse Futerman, Nautiluss, John Roman, Kevin McPhee and Southern Shores.

The even runs from 2PM til about 3am so there is plenty of time during the day to make your way over and enjoy the sights, sounds, and treats.
Advanced tickets can be bought here, and more information can be found at the official website and at the Facebook event page.

The evil genius behind the track “Harlem Shake”, Baauer, has certainly been making the rounds on the hype circuit for the past few months and with good reason too. “Harlem Shake” wasn’t just something out of the blue. New York’s Baauer has been cooking up tunes that will make you snap your neck and scratch your chin simultaneously for the better part of the last year. With official remixes for the Astro Nautico imprint and Paradisiaca Recordings, and a slew of unreleased originals and bootlegs filling out his Soundcloud, it seems like Baauer’s got plenty of beats ready to serve and what seems like a wealth of ideas to continue drawing from.

Last night on Diplo & Friends BBC Radio 1 programme, Baauer launched this missile of a mix. Trap, Grime, Rap, unreleased originals/remixes by the man himself, some Ryan Hemsworth, a bit of Rustie, and plenty of other tracks I can’t be bothered to figure out because I’m too busy bouncing around while listening to this mix…even writing this post is requiring too much attention…

Download Baauer Mix for Diplo & Friends on BBC Radio1 06.17.2012
It’s 100% party, it’s fun, it’s boisterous,and it doesn’t take itself too seriously. There are trancey breakdowns, hardcore builds, wavey hip hop portions, bits of baltimore club, booty shaking bass interludes, unique soundscapes that tie in various degrees of house, a side of some hip hop lean, and a healthy sense of the experimental sound design and repetitious discipline of techno…It’s trap music,whatever that really means, (and isn’t the ambiguity part of the fun?) at it’s finest. I’ll post a tracklist when I find one, but until then I’m just going to put this thing on repeat until I wear out the mp3.

Out of Atlanta, Supurb Records is a rather new imprint pushing a refreshing take on the 2step/garage/house/bass styles. Their latest release, “I Don’t Even Do That” by Imblem is a bubbling house tune with an extremely perky percussion line and heavy filter use really works the vocals in this one. The end result is a track that takes equal parts Todd Edwards and Disclosure and mixes them both together. It’s raw and gritty, but full of energy and quality programming.

Be sure to check out more from Supurb by following them on Facebook and Twitter. And follow Imblem here.

As a little bonus, Supurb has recently released a podcast mix from South Florida’s Henry Krinkle. Check it out here.

Out today through Boy House Limited records, #sorry4crying by 1984 (aka Starfoxxx) is the first full/proper release from a project which has been enchanting my ears and eyes for the last month. My interests were piqued a month ago when the video below appeared online.

It’s soaking wet with nostalgic sunshine. It’s dreamy, it’s optimistic, there are pool parties, a one legged dude roller skating, girls in one piece bathing suits. The waves crashing, the Sing-Sing breaks, and that noodly synth line with the 8bit topping….It’s so blissed out I didn’t even care that the last 30 seconds was pretty much just 1990′s Leo Dicaprio making out with a girl and looking all TigerBeat. Thankfully, the full release carries this same hypnotic sensibility as it weaves through its 9 tracks that phase in and combine various elements of house, disco, chill-wave, r&b, and juke.

The first bit of the album is covered in a humid summer haze. All the sounds move and wash into one another. Tracks like “Tell Me” and “Picnic” have a heavy 1980′s teen film montage vibe; think the opening scene in Sixteen Candles. “Nightswims” and “Madonna(dark)” eschew the dreamy chill-wave laden rhythms for more juke oriented ones, but the tracks are still shrouded in a heavy fog as the original sample materials (Marvin Gaye and Britney Spears respectively) are rendered almost unrecognizable and, yet all of it still remains hauntingly familiar. Closing out the release with a cover of Beach House’s “Heart Of Chambers” is a reminder that this album, despite being indebted to technology is, in 1984′s own words, “about being human”. It’s a fine synthesis between the isolation based studio methods which no doubt produced this album, and the human/communal sensations that this album drew upon for inspiration.

#sorry4crying is available NOW through Boy House Limited’s Bandcamp page. It’s a name your own price sort of thing, but if anything is deserving of your spare dollars today, it is this.

One of my favorite producers as of late operates under the name of Lohko, and he has steadily been transmitting warm, soulful, beach-laden, sun-soaked house tracks that have had me yearning for the warm weather over the last couple months. And now, with summer finally around the corner (I see you Sun. Quit playin. Come out!) Lohko has just unleashed the brightest, playful and vibrant track that I’ve heard from him. “Toujours” sounds like the soundtrack from Miami Vice and the soundtrack for Outrun USA (remember, that video game where when you crashed the car your passengers hopped out and ran along side the car until it stopped spinning and then jumped back in) met up one lustful summer’s eve and things got hot and heavy. It is infectious, inviting, and since I first heard it, I can’t stop going back for more. Where a lot of producers that have been working under the post-dubstep guise/gheist have gone towards colder spacey garage and techno territory, Lohko goes the opposite route. His tracks are bouncing, inviting, and they ooooze this unbridle sense of warmth and sunshine. Be sure to check out more from Lohko at his Soundcloud page, and also check out some of the other artists he works with in his crew the Transmission Collective.

Early June, Toronto’s Jesse Futerman will once again emerge from the ‘Super Basement’ with another collection of dusty, soulful, and sample based funk and jazz tracks. On his forthcoming “Fuse The Witches” EP, Jesse introduces a brighter and more jovial palette of samples this time around but still remains as obscure and laid back as ever. Where “Super Basement” felt and sounded like a collection of smokey late night jam sessions, “Fuse The Witches” is the soundtrack to the morning after. It is that hazy twilight which cannot be distinguished between light sleep and light consciousness. We get glimpses of so many different soundscapes, listening to these tracks acts like a kind of audible museum with Jesse Futerman curating and arranging the exhibits by taking elements of the old and ‘fusing’ them together through modern means.

“Fuse The Witches” will be released on the Jus Like Music label on June 4th.
And…To Celebrate, Jesse will be playing a very special set on June 3rd at the Drake. Other performers include BNJMN, Kevin McPhee, and Sibian & Faun…a stacked lineup to say the least.

Check the EP Preview:

BONUS::
Released today for the Dipped In Dollars blog, here is a brand new mix from Mr. Futerman. In comparison to the last mix we posted by him, this one has a more hip hop and jazz vibe to it. In fact, the last half dives deep into jazzy breaks territory before returning back to the piano led hip hop of Gateway Car’s mix of “Up Against the Wall” by Group Home. This will definitely be the go to mix for me on the car ride home after the long weekend.

Raja – Love Your Brother
Raja – Floating Up (Tribute to MCA)
Main Attraktionz – Shoot The Dice (Friendzone Secret of Mana Remix)
Onra – Intro
Abjo – Wave Dance
DJ Day – Sky, Can You Feel Me?
40 WINKS – The Day Breaks
Skalpel – Flying Officer
Jesse Futerman – Yusef
Kira Neris – Chance and Wills
Jesse Futerman – Funds
Group Home – Up Against The Wall (Getaway Car Mix)

Out today on the Mad Decent free/web/sub-label JefFrees, Baauer’s “Harlem Shake” is that tune that has been ringing in your head since it’s beastly lean made an appearance in Rustie’s Essential Mix the other month. It is that tune that has you freaking out in your office chair and standing in attention at the club…. no matter what you are doing or where you are, this track is a downright stunner. From the shuffle in the drums to the lions roar….the Brooklyn based Baauer is bringing his party to your ears. And the flip, “Yaow!” is just as frantic and intoxicating. With its widely pitched vocals, xylophone melody, and array of whizzing/whirling sound fx, Baauer’s sound is peppered with bits that are both as foreign and familiar as they are hyper and lean. There is no doubt about it, this is a grade A summer party tune.

I Love Bass Music is a facebook page which operates as a blog and extension of the The New Toronto. To celebrate One Year since its launch, I Love Bass Music has put together its first full length compilation. Released today for FREE, the compilation features 17 tracks from producers from around the world including a number of Canadian and Toronto based producers. The release is available now as a free download via bandcamp and it features tracks from Look Like, Henry Krinkle, Lohko, Exeter, Jesse Futerman, Sp3ktre, Dro Carey, Rommek, Pále, Goldenboy, Heim, Royce Rolls, George Jetson, Rewrote, VLSONN, Cure, and Ryan Hemsworth.

“Launched in May 2011, I Love Bass Music operates as a central aggregation site for all things bass music. Dubstep, House, Techno, Juke, Garage, 2-step, Trap, Hip Hop….. if it has a fat low end, chances are it has been posted on the page. 

Now transmitting from various areas in Canada, we look to feature artists from around the world that are making interesting music that operates in our desired frequencies. Over the last year we have had the privilege of sharing amazing musical projects from all sorts of artists, familiar favorites and upstart producers alike. We’ve spent countless hours scouring the internet, listening to the radio, and sifting through record stores, and we’ve been lucky enough to have loads of promos and demos sent our way so that we enjoy the music ourselves and, in turn, share it with our readers. 

So as a way to give back to you all for your support over the last year we’ve compiled a compilation of some of the artists that we have had the privilege of learning about through this page and in our daily digs for new music. 

Clocking in at 17 tracks and 73 minutes, ILBM001 explores all the edges of the bass world spectrum. Crazy drum edits, weird Moog-led soundscapes, chopped up and re-pitched vocals, syncopated percussion, and a wealth of low frequency experiments. World wide representation on this one. 

Big thanks to all the listeners, readers, and contributors.”

Charting in at just over 35 minutes, John Roman has scrupulously pieced together 8 different original tracks which form this hypnotic musical opus, Reclusion 2. The release is one of the most sonically aware and complete projects I’ve heard as of late. The scope of the sound that John Roman is putting out here is very much a fully realized projection of the current sound of underground dance music; this weird amorphous amalgamation of techno, house, garage, UK funky, and dubstep which is constantly thwarting efforts to be pinned down as a single genre. Reclusion 2 makes every effort to subvert attempts to classify it…is it an EP or a mix?, was it built for the big room house or dark room techno?…. and in the pacing of the mix/ep itself we are pulled one way and then moved effortlessly towards other sensations. Take for instance the shift that occurs during the middle bit of the release which plunges through multiple depths of chugging percussive driven techno rhythms before exploding with a vibrant, soaring female vocal sample in “Petrified” that is able to playfully straddle and hold together the lighter and darker elements of John Roman’s tracks. Given that the mix essentially begins in feel good UK Funky territory and ends in a rather harrowing Berlin-heavy techno fashion, it’s even more impressive that John Roman has been able to effectively explore and engage various genres and emotions in such a unique and interesting way. His endeavors with these sounds feel authentic, calculated, and refined, and the release benefits greatly from John’s ability to recognize the ways in which these sounds can play off of each other and his ability to structure these sounds, and not just in song form, but as a complete project as well.

Also, don’t miss John Roman tomorrow (Friday, May 11th) at Course Of Time which is held at Supermarket. 

Last week we released a limited run of merch, and it’s already more than half sold out! Thanks to everyone for the support, and if you haven’t yet picked up a tank, tee, or hoodie check out what’s in stock.

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Charcoal American Apparel 50/25/25 Tank

XL$20.00 CAD

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Black Alstyle Tee

M L XL

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White Alstyle Tee

S$15.00 CAD

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White Gildan Ultra Tank

M$15.00 CAD

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Black American Apparel Zip Hoodie

M$35.00 CAD