Showing posts with label flying skulls. Show all posts

From Chrome Kids and the oddball MC who taught us 'How To Be Cool' last year, Th' Mole's 'I Love Unicorns' is an unlikely rap song withheart, guaranteed to make anyone crack at least a small smile.

Setting himself apart from the slew of 'hipster hop' Th' Mole is a truly unique individual, as he proves irrevocably with the b-side track 'Shocky Guy Go' which features Asian strings, symphonic arrangements and lyrics rapped in an imaginary language.

In addition to remixes of the title track by Robot Koch (Kitty Yo/K7), The Flying Skulls (1320/Daly City), and up-and-coming producer Frietboer, there is also a printable Th' Mole paper doll included in the download!

Pick up a copy from Bandcamp now.



Th' Mole: I Love Unicorns maxi-single - 01. I Love Unicorns (Robot Koch Remix) by magicalbass

Even Radio 1 music supremo and Bestival overlord had to agree that "This is immense". We believe the Robot Koch mix is due to be his tune of the day today, however he is knee deep in Bestival line up announcements (The Cure, Primal Scream, Brian Wilson, Magnetic Man, Crystal Castles, DJ Shadow, Grandmaster Flash, Norman Jay, LFO, Omar Souleyman, A Trak, Katy B, 65 Days Of Static and Pantha Du Prince so far... blimey!) so may have slipped by for today.

Should anybody decide to enforce a narrative on the post Hip-hop music era then one character in particular will loom larger than life and help to propel the story just a he has helped to push the music itself forwards. To celebrate a decade's worth of service to sound from Flying Lotus, his compadre Gaslamp Killer has crafted together an enchanting collection of new and exclusive with previous gems. Just in time to get you all sparkling with anticipation for the forthcoming Cosmogramma abum that is due to drop on Warp Records in April.

Download: A Decade of Flying Lotus (mixed by GLK) via Brainfeeder


Another group of West Coast sound warriors of similar airborne moniker the Flying Skulls have also hit us up with their latest live mix. Long serving readers will remember that much as we love their studio material it's in the freestyle arena that this band of crunk wielding grime and glitch Gladiators truly flex their muscles.

Download: The Flying Skulls, Recorded Live at The Arcata Theater

As the rain kicks in here at Chrome Mansions let's look to sunnier climates and head over to the West Coast, USA for a sonic holiday.


Flying Skulls hit us up with two of their new releases, which comprise of remixes from their Take Flight remix by artists such as Mochipet, Ribotto and their own BBQ Chicken Dub alter egos. Abducted Vol 1 is out on Addictech now or on iTunes as of tomorrow. Abducted Vol 2 is out as an exclusive release on Daly City Records and includes this remix of Skeleton Talk. With it's machine gun drum patterns, some of the squelchiest bass alive and twisted G funk synths, it's kinda like listening to classic Dr Dre in a K hole.

Download: Skeleton Talk (BBQ Chicken Dub Remix) / alt link


Meanest Man Contest just dropped us this superbly spaced out remix of their track Day Off Theme from the excellent new Leaders compilation on Subtitle's Briefcase Rockers label (also featuring Lazer Sword, Small Is Beautiful, Debruit, Crunc Telsa and a whole heap more). On this version their pal Calamalka from Vancouver gives it a beautifully liquid sounding Rolf Harris wobble.

Download: Meanest Man Contest - Day Off Theme (Calamalka Remix) / alt link


Not many Emcees can touch Gift Of Gab for straight up free firing flow and liquid lyricism. A master of his art that at times is mind blowing and at others has you waving bananas in the air in a funk fuelled frenzy, so of course we await the new album eagerly. If you're also a fan of the gifted one then you can pre-order his sophomore solo album here. If not then maybe this track can convince you, a latin tinted funk nodder with a lovely dubbed out breakdown at the end.

Download: Gift Of Gab - El Gifto Magnifico / alt link


Muti Music just uploaded this sinister low fi creeper from the Glitch Mob and PantYRaid don Ooah onto their Soundcloud account. We're not certain but it's probably a teaser for the next Acid Crunk compilation from An-ten-nae due out on Muti in November.

The label also have a compilation out now that they've put together for the Symbiosis Gathering festival that is most definitely worth copping (out on Addictech at the moment and full release in the next couple of weeks). It features the original of the Skeleton Talk track posted above and some of our other favourites from the likes of An-ten-nae and Eskmo.

Ooah - Foolish Science by Muti

Today saw the release of Peaceblaster: The New Orleans Make It Right Remixes, with 30 big name remixers including the likes of Chrome Kids favourites Daedelus, Glitch Mob, Lazer Sword & Flying Skulls donated their time and skill (along with many of the other people involved with the album) to expertly re-craft a bunch of STS9 tracks with all of the proceeds from sales going to Brad Pitt's Make It Right Foundation.

Go buy it now!

(YSI) STS9 - Hidden Hand, Hidden Fist (The Flying Skulls Feat. Abstract Rude Remix) / alt link

(also available on the incredible forthcoming Flying Skulls album, but more of that later)

STS9 Metameme (Alex B Concepts Remix) / alt link

West Coast digital Hip-hop mutants The Flying Skulls have hit us up with a few rocks of their Club Crack remix bootlegs that are almost as disturbing as they are dope as f**k.


To be honest I'd be kinda scared to drop the Spank Rock sampling Club Killer remix out in an actual club, in case it did inspire literal dancefloor murderations, whilst Welsh rhymer Mudmowth is having a 'Circus In The Cemetery' and 'Carnival On Your Carcass' with his classic Skullcrackology track getting the full filth treatment from the The Flying Skulls. The death analogies don't stop there either as the ghost of Aaliyah haunts the live jam remix of Rock The Boat, probably what The Ferryman has cranked up loud on his MP3 player if he's still shipping souls to Hades.

These tracks are essentially mash ups with the beats to be found on their forthcoming album Take Flight, which isn't actually all death and doom, although it is certainly a killer. We'll tell you more about that twisted beauty nearer the time, although if you download the zip files to retrieve all three tracks then there's a press release preview for your perusal.

Flying Skulls - Club Crack EP (zip)

The Flying Skulls - Rock the Boat (Live Jam) feat Aaliyah / YSI

Many an old skool Techno producer tried to install a Jazz ethos to the world of computer technology, I’m not convinced any of them truly managed it although I’m sure there are those who would gladly prove me wrong on this. People have found it hard to equate the rigid world of technology with that freestyle spirit, but Flying Skulls certainly help to bridge that gap. For me they might well be the kings of improvisational beat bashing and the two live sets we’ve put up on the blog have been testament to that. It makes sense then that they should release an album of tracks gathered from their live performances. A heavyweight collection of nasty synths, wobbly basslines and crunked out glitchy beats so dirty you'd swear they robbed their MPC players off a crack dealer. J Tonal, Snareface and Jerome Forney are joined by Ribotto and rapperZap Tap , this is Flying Skulls in their element, and whether or not you could class it as strictly a live album, this album is most definitely live. It is also free through the combination of Daly City and 1320 Records so you have no reason not to go grab it right now.

Here's a couple of our choice cuts and a link to the album.

(YSI) Flying Skulls - Skeleton Talk Deconstruxion

(YSI) Flying Skulls feat. Zap Tap and Ribotto- Ill Street Blus

(YSI) Flying Skulls - Xxxmas Morning

(Direct Link) The Flying Skulls - Lift Off (zip)

Some may have noticed the distortion on the Daly City Radio show a couple of days back. If this seriously hampered your listening pleasure, have no fear as The Flying Skulls, one of the featured acts has given us a crisp and clean (okay it’s filthy dirty but for all the right reasons) copy of a recent live set they recorded for the Daly City Records' Strawberry & Bacon Festival in San Francisco. Expect 46 mins of Crunked Up Electro Prog-Step with: rhymes by ZapTap; Snareface on the MPC ; keys by Ribotto; Jerome Forney handling dirty basslines and a killer trumpet solo; and then finally J Tonal on the mix, engineering, and executive production.

(Direct Link) The Flying Skulls Live @ Strawberry & Bacon Festival, November 2008

In preparation for Th' Mole's upcoming album, Daly City have hit us up with a new mix by DJ 0.000001 ["one-millionth"], featuring several Mole tracks and a 'truck load' of 'thrash-ups' that mix up the likes of Rush, Too Short and Skream or Danny Elfman, Stacs of Stamina and Chromeo.

(Direct Link) DJ 0.000001 - Whirled Fusion Mixtape (zip)

They also hit us with this show from Pirate Cat Radio featuring Daly City artists: Mochipet; Flying Skulls; and Quitter

(Direct Link) Daly City on Pirate Cat Radio