I wasn’t going to say anything, but Sockets skipped a planned winter mix. I wanted to save up for this very jam-packed spring mix! I'm glad I waited... this one is a doozy. Here’s the tracklist and some info about each song:
1. Grip -
Hume2. Five Minutes at the Rainforest Cafe -
Macaw3. A Diviner -
True Womanhood4. Moon Rocks (
Ricky Rabbit remix) -
Rap Dragons5. Rookie of the Year -
Nine-11 Thesaurus6. Head Shrinker (Tyondai Braxton remix) -
Extra Life7. In Pursuit of Sunshine -
The Wholeheart8. Hearted -
Sean Peoples9. Letter of a General -
Imperial China10. Durito's Revenge (Dirty Bombs) -
The Cornel West TheoryHume’s new EP is near completion and the first song to open this mix, “Grip”, may be familiar to some. But this is the new and improved version, freshly mixed and beautifully re-touched. Expect a blitz of activity for the band this summer. The new EP is going to blow minds. The drummer of Hume, Wilson Kemp, is finishing up his solo project, which he’s calling Macaw. “Five Minutes at the Rainforest Café” was highlighted on the DC City Paper’s blog a few months back, but I had no choice, it was too good not to include on the spring mix. These Hume dudes are spewing forth some amazing art these days, so make sure to check in on the regular. True Womanhood keep stepping up their game musically and the release of the band’s new
Basement Membranes EP was just the first of many moves planned by the band this year. “A Diviner” is one of my absolute favorite tracks of this year. The band’s in the studio these days, finishing up music for an LP! Ricky Rabbit (aka Nick Rivetti of Food For Animals) sent over a remix he did for Baltimore’s Rap Dragons and it’s got that sick Reading Rainbow sample. Oh man, that sample is so good. The new youth hip-hop group curated by Sam Hillmer, Nine-11 Thesaurus, is near completion. Sockets is working with
The Social Registry label in NY to release this innovative series that started with The Fly Girlz. “Rookie of the Year” was one of the first tracks to be completed and the quality of this group is consistent, so it’s only a matter of time before you hear a lot more about this group. The new Extra Life remix EP is almost here. The Tyondai Braxton remix featured here has been on the Sockets site before, but it doesn’t get old. Just wait, because the rest of the remixes are on par.
Back in January, Sockets threw a showcase party at Black Cat. It was ridiculous and we’re planning some more similar events. Anyway, I was handed a bunch of demos that night and one of them that stood out to me was The Wholeheart. The music is fairly varied, but falls within the frame of ambient experimental pop. “In Pursuit of Sunshine” grows slowly from ambient texture to driving pulses of vocals and beats. I included a new demo from the forthcoming EP by Sean Peoples (that’s me…), which should be ready this summer. One of these weekends, I’ll jump down the rabbit hole and complete the demos that have been kicking around for the last three years. In the meantime, enjoy “Hearted”, a mix of ambient melodies, vocal loops, and field recordings. The last two groups to release full-lengths on Sockets wrap up the mix. More than anything, these two tracks, “Letter of a General” and “Durito’s Revenge (Dirty Bombs)”, are reminders of two bands helping to shape DC’s new sound.
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