A few years back, Los Angeles’ beat cosmonaut, Flying Lotus, decided to start a label that would channel his endless energies into a solidified movement. Lotus’ releases, particularly the pioneering Cosmogramma, are musical clashes of civilations. The artists on his label tend to follow suit, but mostly to a lesser degree. Lorn’s electronic beats do that FlyLo spazz from time to time, and Teebs refines the label founder’s more psychedelic moments—but nothing gets quite as schizophrenic as FlyLo’s work.

Then came Thundercat. His moniker might precipitate music steeped in recycled visual culture, but that isn’t really the case. The Golden Age of Apocalypse jitters between styles of music but maintains a sort of jazz and r&b foundation. But it jitters in a good way—probably thanks to Lotus’ involvement in the production of this record. He may just be the very reason for the medley, too.

No matter how unexpected, the shifts tend to fit—whether it’s acoustic soul or robotic ambience we’re talking about. The galactic funk streaks of ‘Daylight’ lean towards Dam-Funk, ‘Walkin” towards the better parts of Phonte and Nicolay as Foreign Exchange. Thundercat’s weapon of choice, the bass guitar, is prevalent throughout. Not least in that magnificent switch from trippy swing to a roaring break at the end of ‘It Really Doesn’t Matter to You’ before ‘Jamboree’, an instrumental funk number, kicks in.

Those twenty seconds epitomize the idea; Brainfeeder is about big thoughts—condensed into deliberate concepts, executed with full commitment. The Golden Age of Apocalypse is no different.

words Sven Hultberg Carlsson

Thundercat: It Really Doesn't Matter to You

Thundercat: Jamboree

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Buy The Golden Age of Apocalypse

It’s hard to describe Fatima’s striking soul style. A voice as versatile as her wardrobe, depending on which producer she so intelligently decides to work with, her music can range from anything like jazzy hip hop to electronic futuristic funk.

Chances are if you are the type of London dweller who favours the night bus as their preferred home-time transport, at some point you would have returned from hearing the sounds of the Swedish born superstar in the making. Such is her heavy presence on the capitals underground circuit, a place she now calls home. A big favourite for beat tasters like Benji B too those not within the cities radius would have surely heard her championed across the airways from here to Japan.

I meet Fatima at South London’s Brixton market. While we take in the diverse cultures that circulate Paul Bence captures the afternoon. Then taking refuge in a small coffee shop down one of the lanes I decide its time to find out more about the exciting young lady on everyone’s lips.
Having already dropped the impressive Mindtravelin EP and rocking the crowds at a string of festivals she is currently preparing for her second offering, another EP entitled Follow You. It’s an EP of great promise with lead single ‘Innervision’ an uplifting soul soaked classic in the making.

“I’m gonna put together an album I’m just not at that stage yet” she points out in a laidback accent. Rocking gold hoops and a patterned scarf Fatima has a calming presence that can’t be bought. “I might do an album with one person I might do one with many.”

Still very much exploring the depth of her own sound it’s kind of nice to hear the album isn’t her main priority. In preparation though Fatima has already worked with an envious pool of talented producers. Sonic pharaohs like Floating Points, Funkineven and more recently sparking a tight bond with the funk ambassador himself, Dam-Funk.

“I spoke to him the other day actually because I just finished a tune he sent me.” Fatima explains.
Their first high profile collaboration was ‘Warm Eyes’, a hazy summer anthem with appropriate synths and laidback harmonies. It is a track that hints at big things to come from the partnership.
“It’s sunset music, I think he’s sick.” Fatima pauses and thinks it over some more
“Working with him it’s a combination of things – his music, his style, attitude and chilled out vibe. He is the coolest cat!”

Galactic funk, or futuristic funk depending on your stance, is fairly new music but something Fatima is really enjoying at the moment. The genre however is usually dominated by instrumentals. Dope beat-makers like Grooveman Spot and Dam have set a standard but recently through soul queens like Fatima there has been a refreshing injection of sweat vocals into the mix.
““I listen to quite a lot of hip hop – Wu Tang, MF Doom, Busta Rhymes, 70’s funk, old soul. There is too much from now and then”
But specifically about her current choice she’s clear
“I love those sounds, that ’spacey odyssey sound’. It’s dope. That’s definitely me amongst other stuff. At the end of the day it’s just good music. It might be inspired from certain sounds, in terms of instruments they used to create their sounds. But with a little touch, a little mash of now from influences of then. I think it’s just too fresh.”

Her arrival back in 2006 in London was semi-planned. Having only known the capital briefly as a student the relocation from her hometown Stockholm was a leap of faith as she explains.
“My best friend moved here but we didn’t move together. It was like both of us had our own little mission of what we wanted to do here in London.”
Halfway between her 16 and 17 years, the journey was a turning point in a young Fatima. And one that influenced her musically.
“I knew I wanted to go back” She smiles “If I can remember right that is. I’m getting cuckoo in my old age. Ha!”
“I remember at that time I bought Wiley’s album – Treddin On Thin Ice. I remember going home and being like yeah putting my little fingers in the air. I always wanted to go to his raves but never made it. I’m building a time machine now so I can go back, ha.
It’s lovely place [Stockholm] but after a while you feel like you want to see more of the world, ‘so let me go and see what’s up’, I thought. But that’s a big thing to do, to go to a country and say I’m gonna make it. But I thought to myself listen Fatma if I don’t go now time will just overtake you. When you’re young you can be quite selfish and if you want to try things it’s probably best when you’re younger. So I saved money and packed my suitcase.
For a month I was just walking around, checking out the London Eye and people skating. Sitting on a bench wondering what I’m gonna do, ha! But I eventually got a job and hit all sort of places like Plastic Peoples.”

Born to a Swedish mother and a father from Gambia – Senegal. As a kid she was always travelling around West Africa, influenced heavily by the sights and sounds. After attending music collage and hustling the mic at local basement venues in Stockholm it wasn’t until she made room for herself in the London scene, blowing the mind of a certain nutter and floating stranger that things really fell into place.
Those two figures were of course founders of Eglo records, Rinse FM DJ supreme Alexander Nut and producer/DJ Samuel T Shepherd aka Floating Points. One of the first releases to come out of the hugely respectable imprint and the only official lady within the crew, Fatima can now call Eglo Records home.

And what a great home it is. With a long list of dope releases showered in critical acclaim it’s currently a very impressive time for the fledging imprint – especially when you consider shifting vinyl is harder then shifting the common cold. What’s more, all involved are seemly sewn from the same thread. Holding this idea of multi-genre coolness and making unidentifiable sounds, they are one of the most interesting collectives of creative people in recent years

So what does it mean to be part of Eglo Records?
“It feels good. We are all really good friends, like a family really. When we use to hang out it always revolved around music so now that we’ve been a label for a while, it’s just golden” she laughs. “Golden baby!”

Production wise Eglo Records are without a doubt making some of the most exciting experimental sounds this side of Pluto but it’s Fatima’s grounding touch that is so crucial in binding Eglo’s melodic identity together.
As the days coffee turns lukewarm I stir our chat back to queries about her debut album. It will be dropping at some point she assures, just not right away.
“There is no point in stressing. You have to be satisfied with it.”
Thinking about the current digital age she then touches on a familiar problem.
“Everything is really disposable. It’s great to get stuff everyday but it can be overwhelming! Today it seems as if a lot of people want a lot all the time. I remember when I was growing up it took a while between projects. You actually appreciated the album. It’s not that I’m intentionally putting out less music, it just comes out when I’m satisfied. I can’t rush it.”

It’s a valid point. Imagine asking Picasso to churn out masterpieces or if Marvin Gaye or even A Tribe Called Quest back in the day had to deal with the pressures of free downloads and Internet demand. Would we appreciate their albums less?
Asking who would be the people to eventually release the album she’s adamant however Eglo Records are still the one.
“The more I thought about it the more it made sense. These are people I trust and have great taste in music and vision. So I wanted to be part of it. I released my first EP and it’s been good. This summer has been good too, playing at some festivals in Europe. It feels like we are moving in the right direction. I feel good, ‘cos it feels there is a lot of possibilities.”

Rightly so Fatima is optimistic and passionate about her future. And filled with that infectious self-confidence she leaves me with a few conquering words.
“If you want it enough you have to do it, otherwise life is gonna pass you by. To me it just feels like this is just me! It’s something I’ve always wanted to do so I’m gonna continue doing it.”

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Fatima Website
Fatima on Facebook
Eglo Records
Eglo Records on Facebook

Beatnik caught up with several of the artists at this year’s Soundwave Festival on the shores of Croatia. We also had a stupidly fun time; here’s our recap of Day 2.

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Lineup, main stage:
Put Me On It Presents: Oddisee, Tanya Auclair, Olivier Daysoul & Tranqill | Andreya Triana | Laura J Martin | Dam Funk | The Cinematic Orchestra | Kidkanevil | ASM | DJ Vadim & Yarah Bravo | Gentleman’s Dub Club

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Day 3 was set to be the main event. Not only because the day began with a showcase by Put Me On It that had Tranqill, Tanya Auclair, Olivier Daysoul and Oddisee grace the stage and then continued from strength to strength, but also becuase it was set to be the sweet goodbye to our time at Soundwave.

At this point, we knew that jumping in the sea was the best remedy for overheating on the dance floor, that beer and dancing could lead to dehydration and which burgers from the local food joint were no-nos. All of that acquired knowledge did little to keep us away from that Croatian cherry brandy, but that’s a whole ‘nother story.

Way before the cherry seduction, Andreya Triana took the stage to perform the first solo single of her career, ‘Lost Where I Belong,’ which shares its title with her debut album. More about that later.

While Andreya’s sedating tone accompanied the slow start most of the guests were trying to make to their Sunday, many ears produced a little more resistance to the hip-hop and soul jams that came after.

As a crew full of hip-hop junkies, we were more than excited to see Tranqill deliver his sweet writes along side DJ Alex Nut before Olivier Daysoul’s electronic soul turning up the BPM a notch. Daysoul’s banger with French producer Onra, ‘Long Distance,’ was a clear highlight.

But it seemed most of Soundwave’s festivalgoers had come for the electronica and live instrumentation on offer. The ambience was way too friendly for any boos or disrespect, but there weren’t too many people about to throw up their hands on command or recite any favourite lines by the artists on stage.

That fact was well understood by Oddisee, who took the stage and fired off a salvo of profanities to take some suspense out of the air. He then delivered his murderous verse from Diamond District’s ‘Streets Won’t Let Me Chill’ and launched into ‘I’m from PG’ from his recent Odd Spring release. Given his circumstances, the supremely talented producer/emcee delivered an inspired performance.

It took a majestic, late-afternoon acoustic set by Andreya Triana to hype the whole audience to a recognizable level, though. Altering songs from her beautifully dark Lost Where I Belong such as ‘Draw the Stars’ and ‘A Town Called Obsolete’ with covers of idols such as Chaka Khan. Her concluding song was a guitar-driven version of ‘Ain’t Nobody’ by Rufus, and the crowd was moved, figuratively and literally, as Andreya left the stage to jam among all of us and we gravitated towards her. Sublime.

As expected, the strong lineup ensured the final day of this year’s Soundwave continued in style. Californian funkster Dam Funk showed up with a handful of synths, delivering material from his 2009 album Toeachizown and newer material from his download series accompanied by a live drums and, low and behold, more synths. His modern funk, while slightly undermined by the sound on stage, nonetheless sounded very fitting on our mellow, last evening.

The ground was slowly starting to rumble, though, and while it may have taken a tad longer to gain the collective momentum than on the previous evenings, the inevitable party was only around the corner. But before it was time to wild out one last time, the magnificent Cinematic Orchestra was to deliver its set.

Ninja Tune’s innovative sextet taught us all a lesson in instilling a mood, but instead of punishing us for our shortcomings we were just lured in by the atmospheric instrumentation and DJ effects. From their brilliant soundtrack to Dziga Vertov’s silent film Man with a Movie Camera to their track with the same name from the album Every Day, the Orchestra put every listener in its own cradle, and rocked us not to sleep, but to some poignant state of meditation.

Perhaps that respite was what was needed to get the lot of us moving for one last night. Charismatic couple DJ Vadim and Yarah Bravo were their lively selves on stage and ensured that our kinetic efforts were once again rewarded. Third time’s a charm.

Nine-piece Leeds legends Gentleman’s Dub Club payed their old friends at New Bohemia, who along with Soundcrash organised the festival, a visit by turning the festival site upside down at midnight. A lot of jumping, a lot of people and an abundance of love capped off three days of incredible music on the stunning Croatian shores. We want more.

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Born and raised in the legendary South Bay area of Los Angles, TOKiMONSTA dipped her toes in beat making when she was just 19. The music making began as a much needed distraction from studying an international studies degree at University of California, and not even TOKi herself could have predicted her skyrocket levitation to worldwide fame years later.

TOKi, at that point known as Jennifer Lee to most, is a second generation Korean-American — her moniker often has her mistaken as Japanese — who first fell in love with hip-hop. Beginning as a full-fledged b-girl, she soon found a similar love for electronic music, and with boom bap still in her veins she decided to delve deeper into experimental noise. Utilizing live instruments, percussion, digital manipulation and dusty vinyl she has managed to bridge the gap between the two often distant genres, making some of the most dazzling, bling-tastic art since the ’72 Impala lowrider with rims on it!

Now Toki is recognized and praised as one of the very best in avant-garde hip hop and electronica worldwide, and has become a leading figure in the soon-to-be legendary crew Brainfeeder.

“I was so sorry I wasn’t on skype earlier,” she apologetically relays at the start of our late internet meeting, causing me to add humility and charisma to my character description. It’s 2am in LA as we go through general niceties, but before you think I’ve tried to catch her in her pj’s with a cup of coco, it should be added that TOKi is a late night grafter. Fusing vintage sounds with progressive styles under the cover of darkness and solitude, she often works till sunrise.

“I woke up like 4pm and even though it’s 2am I probably won’t go to sleep till 6 or 7am. All my music is made dead into the night and early hours,” she explains. “So a lot of the time I produce after coming back from somewhere or seeing something and I’d be put in a certain mood. It ends up coming out the way it does”

We continue to exchange general chatter for a minute drifting between her favourite artist right now — Dam-Funk — and other creative interests. “Funk is so awesome. I wish I had the performance mentality Dam has. No one has the encyclopaedia knowledge he has of boogie funk. It’s on so many levels of awesome, but such a humble guy.

“I’m a big appreciator of visuals and aesthetics too. I paint and draw so I really like to be creative. In the future I’m looking forward to doing my own artwork and incorporating live visuals in my set. Maybe next year.”

The petite Toki is also big on food.

“I remember coming home and watching cooking shows when I was like 8. I love sushi. I’ve been into food since before it was cool, like before people started posting their dinner on Facebook, ha!”

Then we settle at the two main topics of conversation: Brainfeeder and their now renowned hang out, a small club called the Low End Theory.

For those who don’t know, Brainfeeder is a collective of producers and DJ’s that collaborates with various singers and rappers that have been breaking new ground in electronic music. Now a label spearheaded by the celebrated Flying Lotus, the team stems from the hazy melting pot of the LA music scene, with all the talented pioneers involved sharing common interests in early hip hop, soul and funk but equally intrigued by electronic beauty and experimentation.

Since the crew’s formation, they have individually pioneered their own micro-genres while creating an overall cosmic sound under their name, one that is still to be classified. From Nosaj Thing to Gaslamp Killer to Flying Lotus and TOKi herself, you are guaranteed a different sound. As the only female producer in the crew, I wonder if it’s difficult for TOKi to be amongst a bunch of such brothers.

“Yeah I guess I’m the only lady producer on the label, of course there are affiliated singers but It’s really cool. Obviously we grew our own genre and scene but we are all hip hop heads first. Just being around hip hop myself I was always the only girl anyway, and no body every treated me different. I suppose at some point I worked my way through the ladder. I’ve been there in the beginning when nobody ever gave me respect. Now I’m just one of the homes. I feel pretty well respected.”

Whenever Brainfeeder perform, apart from the tickets evaporating like water one other thing is certain — there’s a real sense of community between the billed artists. “We are all friends and it’s nice. Me being a part of Brainfeeder is just another natural progression of being in LA and hanging out with these people.

“All this music is coming out now but it was a family first and foremost. A crew with an idea.”

Whether they bombard your ears in a grimy, abandoned warehouse in Germany or a classy establishment like the Tate museum in London, quality is always guaranteed. But then again there is no place like home, and the crew’s home is the now freshest spot in LA – Low End Theory. The place to be if you have a thirst for pioneering and exciting music, TOKi is quick to explain its appeal, comparing it to her favourite spot this side of the water.

“Especially someone who’s from London I would compare it to a place like Plastic People. It’s kinda of the similar vibe were it has that great sound system but isn’t the nicest place, ha! They have a downstairs bar where they play a lot of independent movies and also an outside area for people who smoke. That used to be were we would perform back in the day. It’s probably the best area to perform but due to fire hazards we no longer can.”

“It’s a really interesting mixture,” she says as she continues to describe the typical crowd. “You’ll see hipsters, graffiti looking kids, baseball caps and t-shirts and every now and then, but not too many, people from work in suits. There isn’t a prerequisite of the kind of person you have to be in order to enjoy this music. It’s really a kind of sound that attracts people from all backgrounds. Low End is a really cool place.”

Buzzing off the local heroes and building friendships, It’s a place where TOKi, like many of her peers, used to come as a fan before she became a regular resident. It’s also the place Brainfeeder was formed.

“It’s really interesting when you go there ‘cause everyone’s really positive. I’ve never seen fights break out. We call Low End Theory our home base. Any day of the week you can come back form tour and just hang out with friends, with a beer, and know anyone who’s dj-ing is one of those friends too. It’s quite a nice and embracing kind of atmosphere.

“The extra special thing about Low End Theory is that the place strips you of your ego in a sense, there is no green room or backstage. No where like that allows the artist to interact with the crowd.

“If you want to you can ask questions and hang out with you’re favourite producers. In both aspects it’s really humbling weather artist or fan.Even now I get to see some artists playing and I’ll get freak out and become this fan girl ‘oh my god I listen to you’re music for like ten years.” TOKi pauses as she remembers a particular, funny moment.

“Yeah I did that to EL-P the other week which I think kind of freaked him out , but I think it was ok I’d been drinking quite a bit so I hope he doesn’t remember ha”

TOKiMONSTA’s music is often chilled, pensive and reflective, but she also has a monstrous side. Once in a while, she’ll wake you from the dream with a ridiculous stomping blast of the unreal.

“If I listen to upbeat and happy music for too long I get bored. Then I want really gritty, abrasive and loud. I tend to really bounce between the two.”

It’s no wonder, then, that she named herself TOKiMONSTA, or rabbit monster for those who don’t speak Korean. A sort of oxymoron that represents her dual passion to shock and move.

“I try to figure myself out sometimes but it’s really a hard”

So how did the hip hop girl turn her biggest influences into her own unique style?

“With me trip hop is a huge influence on my music too. I like that head nod stuff that makes you want to break your neck. When you listen to the old Wu Tang, West Coast or stuff like Dilla it has that thing you just want to vibe to it. I guess when you open your horizons and listen to electronic music it has that same idea. I think in general it’s just a natural progression.”

“Its kind of funny and I can’t speak for everyone, maybe in a sense, but in LA we have always had beat battles and showcases. The thing is always to one up each other. And for the ones keen on opting something new you’d bring something fresh to the table that would blow people away. So in little ways I think there is an adaption of styles from one another, if you pay attention to our music we are, and aren’t, all that similar though.”

“It was unintentional that it became like this.” Toki pauses to ponder how she helped create a scene. “It’s kinda hard to quantitative say why, but certainly one thing lend to another to the music becoming what it is now”

To see strong genres like hip hop, which came from many other brackets like jazz, soul and disco, itself being a principle proprietor in moulding a new breed of music is something quite special. And more than that, very exciting.

“It’s about the way you flip it. That’s a real hip hop mentality. Everyone can take the same sample but the one who flips it’s the best is the dopest sound, right”

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Midnight Menu is out now. Buy it here.

Sometimes we just like to look at the purely beautiful, and this poster for Dam-Funk’s July 1 and 2 gigs in San Francisco and LA, designed by Burlesque of North America, is certainly that:
If you are like us, then you will be tempted to buy yourself one of these for $20 at the Stones Throw online shop.

Los Angeles independent label Proximal Records have been releasing free, great material for a while by now. Last week saw the release of the third instalment of their Beat Stew series.
Beat Stew Vol. 2 features herds of talent from the LA electronic music scene. Benedek, Lawrence Grey, Wake and BearClaw all make appearances.
Download from Bandcamp

Don’t forget to check out Vol. 1 and 0 and, come September, their Proximity One: Narrative of a City compulation, where Dam-Funk, Daedelus and TokiMonsta are among the featured artists.

If any of you wanted to find out more about the origins of California funk and boogie man Dam-Funk, the opportunity is here. Dam-Funk did an interesting phone interview recently which can be streamed below.

The event of the summer is going down in Croatia. Soundwave Croatia is presented by our friends at Soundcrash and New Bohemia.
Set on the beautiful coast outside of Petrcane, there will be both the setting and the music to party all weekend.
The festival boasts a stupidly nice line-up, with The Cinematic Orchestra, Andreya Triana, Dam-Funk, DJ Vadim, Oddisee, Mr. Thing, Zero 7 and many more performing exclusively on the shores of the Mediterranean.
Beatnik are proud to have been invited along to the festival. Our whole team will be present, gathering exclusvie footage and interviews for everybody who was and was not there.

Tickets are £75 and can be bought here. Make sure not to miss out. Join Soundwave Croatia on Facebook or follow them on Twitter to stay up to date.

Californian funk guru Dam-Funk is still searchin’ for his genre’s future… even though he’s already come a long way in defining it.
Following up on his recent series of net releases (this, for instance, came before), the man just released the demo to a song called ‘Monsta‘ on his Twitter.

Download ‘Monsta‘ here. It’s easy to imagine Dam-Funk making it in his Cali studio: big shades on, in fresh gear and a haze of smoke, jammin’ away at those synths.
The track is allgedly from his Gemini Mindstate – what we can only hope is a forthcoming album.