This post is not bass oriented. Hell, it isn’t even dance music oriented. However, it is medium we use to share what we love. And for this reason, I wanted to take a minute to post about the tragic suicide of Sparklehorse leader, Mark Linkuous. For those who know me, .rar KELLY, on a personal level know how much this band has meant to me. Mark Linkuous’s songs have gotten me through some very rough points in my life. For those fans of Sparklehorse, Mark’s suicide of a shotgun blast to the heart can’t fully come as a surprise; however, the fact that this great songwriter will remain silent for the rest of my life hits much like that blast. And for those who don’t know Sparklehorse, I highly recommend checking them out. I have included some a couple songs and some videos below, but stress that Sparklehorse cannot be fully absorbed by a song or two; rather, they remained one of the few bands whose craft demanded the listener to take in each album as a whole. This is only a taste – go buy their records.

Mark – your music will be missed.

Sea of Teeth – Sparklehorse from christina vantzou on Vimeo.

gasoline horseys from christina vantzou on Vimeo.

Heart of Darkness – Sparklehorse from christina vantzou on Vimeo.

The fact that Columbus’s HOT MESS are not biggest dance act in the world right now is mind-blowing. Much like another Kellz favorite, The Squire of Gothos, HOT MESS’s production remains on par, and often topping, all of the big names in dance music, and yet when I say “Have you heard of Hot Mess?” people think I am talking about Lindsay Lohan or something just as absurd.

Well that’s about to change.

I am making it a personal crusade to get the word out about HOT MESS. Much like how Conan O’Brien successfully campaigned to have DIRTY DANCING re-released over ten years ago, I want Hot Mess to be synonymous with Crookers, Fake Blood, Benga, Rusko and yes, even the Beatles. So in an effort to launch this “GLOBAL MESS” campaign, here’s a post of EVERYTHING I have found by HOT MESS over the past six or seven months.

DJs – go rinse the shit outta these tunes cause they are ALL at 320kpbs.

Promoters – contact Brandon&MJ at HouseHold and book Hot Mess in your city. Thanks to the House Hold family, Hot Mess are going to be at WMC this year. This might be the first step to their global explosion (I hope).

World – LET’S MAKE THIS HAPPEN. The “GLOBAL MESS” campaign is ON!!!

Go to the HOT MESS blog to grab their mixes & keep up on everything messy

The Murkle Man returns, showing a very different side to his musical character than that displayed on “Party Animal.” Produced by Rapid (best known for his work with Tinchy Stryder) this bass-heavy, grimey, electronic production is the perfect platform for Jammer to strike back at the itty-bitty, wannabe grime stars who spend their time online giving the metaphorical middle finger to anyone more successful than them. That this is achieved with a fair amount of humour and the use of the occasional outlandish put down (“I’m a Lambo/You’re just a Z3”) is testament to a recording artist who keeps on striving to make better music rather than looking for an excuse to – metaphorically or otherwise – shank someone.

Remixes come from West Coast beatmaster Lorn (part of Flying Lotus’ Brainfeeder crew) and Brighton-based d&b duo, The Prototypes. Lorn takes the original and turns it into hard, dustep-influenced hip hop. The Protoypes, meanwhile, first slow down Jammer’s vox and then speed them up for an arena-crumbling drum ‘n’ bass workout.

Jahmek Power aka Jammer is one of the true pioneers of the grime scene. A builder of bridges and peacemaker rather than a loose cannon, Jammer is one of the few people in London who can count both Dizzee Rascal and Wiley amongst his friends and who has worked with Jay Sean, Kano, Tinchy, Chipmunk, Boy Better Know and just about everyone else, underground and overground. And if none of them have a bad word to say about him, that’s because, at heart, Jammer believes more in music than he does in ego.

“Better Than” should be enough to remind people that, contrary to current trends, you don’t have to rap about selling drugs and killing folk to be real. All you have to do is let your character shine through.

Jammer – Better Than – Single out on Big Dada (15th March)

New video for “Better Than”

The album “Jahmanji” will be out on 14th June.

Here’s a bunch of free shiiiiitttt from Deadboy, Toronto’s ZED’S DEAD, and KILLABIT. Figured it would something good to start your week. ENJOY!!!

There are the rare moments in one’s musical hunt when one accidentally stumbles upon an artist whose sound completely blows their mind. Months ago, I happened upon Bristol producer, GIZMODE, whose “GASSTEP” totally caught me off guard. The track combined elements of breakcore, dubstep, gabber, and early industrial to create an exciting new sound. Since then, GIZMODE has continued to progress – most recently with “Fallout”. Keep an eye out for this producer – and expect BIG TINGS!!!!
fallout by gizmode
sincethecrackstep by gizmode
canyousmellgasstep by gizmode

Check out more at his MYSPACE

Subdivision Family members, and .rar Kelly’s personal fav, the Squire of Gothos have launched their new record label – the perfectly titled OFF ME NUT RECORDS. And with the launch comes FREE EP’s from label artists: SPONGEBOB SQUAREWAVE & DANKLE, DROID, as well as a new OFF ME NUT MEGA MIX (see below) and last but definitely not least, label godfathers, The Squire of Gothos are giving up a FREE copy of their THE DULLAH E.P.!!!!