Music Archive - The Fox Is Black

Five Questions with Aaron Meola, founder of Portland record label Dropping Gems

I was first introduced to the Portland-based label Dropping Gems two years ago when they released their first compilation, Gem Drops. I was shocked. Here was a labor of love, done by friends for friends, with incredible beats and songs, and all the revenue went to the American Cancer Society. I stayed fresh and young, I got down with some kale jams (seriously), and I loved it so much I even featured a track on my Redford Rise mixtape, for all of you to enjoy.

Gem Drops Two followed the next year with the same inspired blend of tracks. Anything from synth pop, hip hop beats, ambient, drone… it was there. This was music to fall in love to, to get lost in a forest with, to make you dance in the sunshine. Once again, the proceeds went to cancer. Once again, I was smitten with the music.

Gem Drops Three came out yesterday. Many of the same things are there, but after several years, the sound is more refined. This is a labor of love. So through some help by friends of friends, I got a chance to ask label founder and Portland native Aaron Meola how he does it. And in the loving tradition of The Fox Is Black interviews, I asked him five questions about music, love, and passion.

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Alec Rojas

April 17, 2013 - See more posts by Alec

Listen to the soundtrack for ‘Upstream Color’, composed by Shane Carruth

Upstream Color Soundtrack; Composed by Shane Carruth

Lately I’ve been hearing a lot of great things about Upstream Color, a film that was written, directed, produced, stars, edited, and scored by Shane Caruth. I swear I’m not making any of that up. I purposely don’t know much about it, but I was able to find this interesting short description.

“A man and woman are drawn together, entangled in the life cycle of an ageless organism. Identity becomes an illusion as they struggle to assemble the loose fragments of wrecked lives.”

I’m a sucker for dramatic situations set in sci-fi-esque worlds and this is definitely up my alley. While I don’t want to know more about the plot, I did dabble in the films score. A mentioned earlier Caruth also created all the music for the film, which when you listen to it that seems quite impressive. I’m no expert on film scores, but this sounds like something that can stand toe-to-toe with anything Hans Zimmer has done recently.

The music has eerie, mechanical tones interlaced with deep resonating cellos. It’s both familiar with and undercurrent that’s alien and machine-like. It reminds me a bit of Takagi Masakatsu’s music, only with a more orchestral root to it. If you’re into soundtracks I think this is certainly one not to miss.

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Bobby Solomon

April 16, 2013 - See more posts by Bobby

The Night and Day of TOKiMONSTA’s ‘Half Shadows’

The beautiful thing with music is, that while getting what you expect is pretty great, when you get something you never expected it’s the best. That seems to be the case with Jennifer Lee aka TOKiMONSTA, the LA-based beatsmith, producer, and songwriter. The versatility of her style seems as random and spasmodic as her home city. One minute you’re in a chopped up hip hop song, the next a slow R&B crooner, then a beat-heavy banger, and finally some electronic bliss pop. It’s almost a trademark of the whole Low End Theory/Brainfeeder crew. If you think you understand what’s happening, you might have missed the whole point.

So we’re more than amped to see what is happening on her new album, Half Shadows.

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Alec Rojas

April 16, 2013 - See more posts by Alec

‘Eurozone’ – A Great New Track From Shine 2009

Eurozone - Shine 2009

Finnish electro-pop duo Shine 2009 have just released a new single called “Eurozone”. It’s a wonderfully catchy tune filled with glittering chimes, operatic samples and a terrific late-80s / early-90s style funk. The track is the first single from their upcoming second album, and a brilliant taste of what’s to come. “Eurozone” has certainly been clocking up a good number of plays in my studio over the last few days, and I’m already looking forward to the new album!

You can download “Eurozone” here from iTunes. Their forthcoming album, Our Nation is set for release this fall through Cascine.

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Philip Kennedy

April 15, 2013 - See more posts by Philip

Crossing Over into Bonobo’s ‘The North Borders’

The North Borders by Bonobo

The career of Sean Green, aka Bonobo, has been one of slow yet steady ascent. A DJ and producer, his debut record Animal Magic contained the trademarks of a man impressed in the details. One could listen to the record without realizing the jazzy, funkified trip-hop beats have been playing and seeping into your brain. The sitars ring, the guitar strings fuzz, drums mute, and all of a sudden the listener is transfixed. When Black Sands came out in 2010, the formula was complete – global melodies, hip hop precussion, a meditative producers touch. “Kiara” remains one of my favorite “play-this-any-time-of-day” track of the past 5 years, while “Eyesdown” is the most seductive 9 megabytes available for remixes. Listening to Black Sands can be akin to sitting in a Van der Rohe chair. The details are everywhere, you just have to look.

So needless to say, The North Borders might be the most anticipated release on Ninja Tune this year.

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Alec Rojas

April 12, 2013 - See more posts by Alec