I Need You!

24 hours from this moment, I’ll be floating in a tin can somewhere over California’s Bay Area. That’s right, Natty’s going on vacation! I’ll be in San Francisco all week, but that doesn’t mean Natty’s Picks is taking a break. Next week my picks will be made entirely of Bay Area electronic music, and I need you! Send me your suggestions via email: natty@theuntz.com or on Twitter: @TheUntz.

1. “Remorse” - Hollidayrain

Writing about electronic music makes me feel so old. And not because I use words like “gals” and “fuddy duddy.” It’s because half of the people I listen to are younger than me. I feel like a disgraced high school newspaper editor, hiding out behind the locker bay and taking notes on all the goings on in the school. Hollidayrain (aka Srevas Krishnan) is a 19-year old kid out of Boulder, Colorado, and on this track you can hear the young artist starting to grow into his shoes. Oh no, those students spotted me here by the vending machines! Back! Back, I say! You fight like a couple of gals, you fuddy duddies!

2. “Melodic Thoughts” - Mr. Savz

I featured Mr. Savz a few weeks back, and I was really struck by the cinematic feel in a lot of his tracks. His SoundCloud profile says his dubstep style music blends with “a twist of melodic/dramatic instrumentals.” And that’s a really  good way to put it. Driving and listening to Mr. Savz feels like I’m in a movie about driving in my car. Then there are a bunch of bad guys and some other stuff happens. But in the end, it turns out I was the car all along. Pretty good right?

3. “Wub” - Stephan Jacobs

Off his brand new EP “In The Vortex,” Simplify Recordings artist Stephan Jacobs finds some dial tones and synthesizers that sound like slow motion ambulance effects and turns it all futuristic downtempo. When the little two step beat comes your head-nod may change, but your feet still stay stuck to the floor with all these grease and bass spills.

4. “Turbocrunk” - Mochipet (Tha Fruitbat Remix)

Over a nervous hip-hop beat and a vaguely wet sounding bassline, Fruitbat starts off calm. A few loops start to enter, a vocal sample here, a bass swell there. But as the beat starts to grow more complex, so does the wall of glitch heading up the rear. Fruitbat stays at the same pace throughout  the song, peppering in sample after sample, until he ends up with something that is like half sound collage, half hip hop dynamic art. Whatever that is, that’s what it sounds like.

5. “Return to Form” - Gladkill

His name might sound like a phantom or an evil villain bent on capturing the Earth’s ozone, but in reality he just produces incredible atmosphere. On “Return to Form” Gladkill mixes IDM with crunkstep, dubstep and a shifty melody. Be sure to keep one eye on it, like when looking at a solar eclipse. Always stare directly into the sun with one eye, and cover the other.

If you’re an artist who’d like to be featured on Natty’s Picks of the Week, shoot me an email at natty@theuntz.com. And don’t forget to flood my inbox with your suggestions for the best Bay Area artists and producers!