Videos

BSTV: Bonobo Talks ‘Black Sands’ to ‘The North Borders’ [Video]

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Bonobo Simon Green

Simon Green, the one-man musical force behind Bonobo, broke out in a big way with his 2010 downtempo masterpiece Black Sands, an acclaimed album whose impact was unexpected but much deserved. Nearly four years later, Green, a Brit who now calls Brooklyn home, has turned heads once again with The North Borders, an album that finds him exploring darker, glitchier beats and collaborating with the likes of Erykah Badu and an array of rising talents.

Before setting off on his world tour supporting the new release, we caught up with Green on a rooftop in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and asked him to talk about the creative path he traveled on in order to go from Black Sands to The North Borders.

Basement Jaxx Unite With Korean Sisters for “Back 2 The Wild” [Video]

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Basement Jaxx Back 2 The Wild

It might be sacrilege to say it, but I’ve always felt Basement Jaxx lost the plot ten years ago after they released Rooty, which spawned the international smashes “Romeo,” “Jus 1 Kiss” and “Where’s Your Head At?”. Their evolution into a faux live samba band just didn’t do it for me, probably because the musicianship wasn’t there and I had always wanted them to return to their early Atlantic Jaxx sound that gave us house classics like “Fly Life.”

Today the duo issued video for their new single “Back 2 The Wild,” and it’s a decent return to form. A fun uptempo tune that takes a page from Tom Tom Club’s ethos where world music and fun collided, the song fronted by Korean sisters Miss Emma Lee & Baby Chay is catchy enough to be a summer anthem. The dazzling video directed by Mat Maitland will certainly help the cause.

Video: Bomb the Bass – “Wandering Star”

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bomb-the-bass-600x365

Tim Simenon etched out a permanent place in dance music history in 1987 when he waxed his legendary acid house track “Beat Dis.” Despite countless musical trends and fads, the song recorded for just £500 has the power to devastate any dance floor. Period. While BTB was a one-man show for many years, Simenon recently brought vocalist Paul Conboy into the fold and the results have been smashing. “Wandering Star” is their latest effort, a swirling delight of beats and soaring melodies. The video for the new single directed by Eni Brandner is also quite a sight, taking influence from French filmmaker Georges Méliès and setting the stage for their upcoming In The Sun due in June.

Video Premiere: Nick Hook Studio Tour for Scion AV

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Nick Hook

If you love vintage gear, get ready to drool. Greenpoint, Brooklyn-based DJ/producer Nick Hook gives Scion AV a look inside his studio outfitted with an array of vintage synths including a Dave Smith Prophet-8, Roland Juno 106, Roland SH101 and Sequential Circuits Split-8. Hell, Hook even has a Moog Vogayer. “I like keyboards with knobs,” he says in the video. “I like to run things through my keyboards.”

Hook’s amazing collection is rounded out by a host of vintage drum machines such as a Roland TR-808 and TR-909. Rather surprisingly, Hook proudly holds up his covered Rat distortion box and shows off his EMT 250, which is “the first digital reverb ever made.”

Though he’s big on hardware, Hook also gives us the lowdown on his software setup.

Watch the full video below.