The Vibe Conductor 2013 Hot List

Albums

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyyhB6-W_lg
DJ Day – Land of 1000 Chances

I’ve admired DJ Day for a long time. His skills on the cut, in the mix and on the MPC are elite. But when you add in his song crafting ability, he’s truly one of the best DJ/producers in the game right now. As a DJ with over 20 years devoted to this, there are few peers who inspire me more than DJ Day.

For his second full-length project, he channeled personal experiences, a palette of dreamy beats and subtle musicianship into an end to end experience that creates an audio topography of the California desert he calls home.

More long players:

Shokazulu – Shokazulu

Wayna – The Expats

Disclosure – Settle

Thundercat – Apocalypse

Fat Freddy’s Drop – Blackbird

Black Milk – No Poison No Paradise

Soul/R&B

Pharrell – “Happy”

This may be the best thing Pharrell’s done in his whole career. I played no song more in 2013 than this one when I caught Despicable Me 2 back in July. It’s just now taking off so it’s likely to run 2014.

More soul/R&B picks:

Quadron – “Neverland”

Philip Owusu – “Goodnight”

Janelle Monáe – “Ghetto Woman”

Zo! – “We Are On The Move” feat. Eric Roberson

Mayer Hawthorne – “Her Favorite Song”

Hip-Hop

Busta Rhymes – “Thank You” ft. Q-Tip, Kanye West, Lil Wayne

Busta and Tip gassed us with talks of a project together, but when it finally dropped, it was merely a compilation of their collabs over the years with a few new tracks sprinkled in. Couldn’t y’all have just done a DJ mix of the old joints and give us a five song EP of that new new?

So yeah, I might be a wee bit salty at the bait and switch but it’s hard to maintain that level of salinity due to the funk factor of the main jam of the project. Tip and Buss, I heartily thank y’all for “Thank You”.

More rap snacks:

Tanya Morgan – “Never Too Much” feat. Nitty Scott, MC

Kanye West – “Black Skinhead”

De La Soul – “Get Away”

Schoolboy Q feat. Kendrick Lamar – “Collard Greens”

Med & Blu – “Burgundy Whip”

Dance

Seven Davis Jr. – “One”

I’ve been asked what soulful dance music actually is. It’s swing, grace notes, nuance and the spaces in between. It can bang too, just like this Seven Davis Jr. joint that kinda came out of nowhere to get in that ass.

More oontz:

Jack Son – “Thrill Her”

Major Lazer – “Watch Out For This (Bumaye)”

Oscar P, KqueSol, Shatti – “No Letting Go (Jose Marquez Remix)”

The Foreign Exchange – “So What If It Is”

Elements of Life – “Children Of The World” (Roots Mix)

Other

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRINFdrXZdE
Tiny Hearts – “Snow Cold”

Waajeed emerged from his hiatus, took a hard left and debuted his Tiny Hearts project with the fantastic Stay EP. That’s how you make a re-entrance.

More joints that defy categorization:

Abigail Wyles – “Mantra”

Toro Y Moi – “Say That”

PLOY – “Future Voyager”

Pomo – “So Fine”

Lo-Fang – “#88”

International

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=craUyGGZfWw
Grupo Socavon – “Homenaje a Justino” (Uproot Andy rmx)

Uproot Andy should have his own genre in my crates. I’d probably call it TROPICAL FACE MELTERS. Everything he touches detonates a dancefloor, and he dropped an unfair collection of bombs on his Worldwide Ting EP. In his hands, this beautiful folk tune from the Currulao region of Colombia brings the ancestors down onto your turntables.

More international flavor:

The Sol Power All-Stars – Mesdames Yo

Jay Bieggs – “Gargantuan”

Bosq of Whiskey Barons feat. Kaleta – “More Heavy”

Bio Ritmo – “Picaresca”

Machel Montano – “She Ready”

Remixes

Daniel Crawford – “Suffer No More”

Young Mr. Crawford’s Fela flip dropped on my head like bricks when he first unleashed it. I was utterly flattened. When turned loose on the right dance floor, people had out of body experiences.

More flips, remixes and edits:

Mario – “Somebody Else” feat. Nicki Minaj (djtray remix)

Frank Ocean – “Pink Matter” (Boddhi Satva Ancestral Soul Remix)

Robin Thicke – “Ooo La La” (Crafty Daggers Remix)

Minnie Riperton – “Baby This Love I Have” (Pulse Rework)

The Foreign Exchange – “All The Kisses” feat. Paris & Amber Strother of KING (Ahmed Sirour Remix)

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