Sina. - It Was You

Three tracks not enough for Mellow Monday?  We thought not.  Sina. is an artist that I've been listening to for a while, but have yet to post on freshdrops.  That ends today. The Irish producer has started to tease a couple of the tracks from his upcoming free EP on Soundcloud, and It Was You is the latest he has uploaded in advance of that release. This is a really chill piece of work, and full of emotion - perfect for winding down Monday evening.  Just hit play and drift into the soundscape offered here for the next 4 minutes.  You'll be glad you did.  Then hit play again.

Watch for Sina.'s EP dropping soon for free, and in the meantime grab his remixes collection for free from his Bandcamp page - remixes of Passion Pit, Odesza, Kilimanjaro and more.

- KJ

Flamingosis - About A Week Ago // Gas Pedal

A couple chill hip hop jams coming in for Mellow Monday this week, from an artist that we've featured multiple times before - Flamingosis.  Both of these tracks are remixes that have been reworked to have a completely different feel from the originals, and into that funky, jazzy and loungey hip-hop flavour that is Flamingosis' specialty.

About A Week Ago... is a remix of Bobby Shmurda's Hot N*gga, which is a pretty heavy gangster rap originally - but the rework turns the vibe into a much more laid-back jazzy hip-hop jam. The original lyrics still flow without much editing aside from the tempo.

The second track is a remix of Sage The Gemini's Gas Pedal.  Again, this puts a really fresh groove on the original - Flamingosis keeps the lyrical content, and simply weaves a whole new backdrop that they are presented against. Similarly, this rework brings in some grooving guitar licks and brings that signature funky hip-hop sound.

Both of these are up for free download, so pick them up and add them into your collection of summer jams.

- KJ

TastyTreat x Black Monday x Cory Enemy - Press Reset ft. Amory

Press Reset is a really nice chill vocal trap track that should get your Monday going nicely. A collaboration between a number of artists - TastyTreat, Black Monday, Cory Enemy and Amory, there was no shortage of creative vibes going into this production. There are a lot of really interesting elements to this one, from intriguing key runs, to vocal chops, to the myriad of different synth sounds worked into. This is some future music for sure. Don't just take my word for it though, have a listen for yourself below.

This is available as part of a full free album release Hebinomichi Vol. 2, so head over and grab the 14 track compilation for whatever you would like to pay. The compilation has a number of great producers featured, from KRNE to SteLouse amongst others.  Check it out!

- KJ

Friday Care Package - April 17th

- KJ

Hardrive - Deep Inside (Low Steppa Remix)

Hardrive's 1993 classic and frequently sampled Deep Inside has recently gotten the fresh remix treatment from a number of great artists such as Shadow Child, Kenny Dope, and Harry Romero, and are featured on a brand new release from the iconic label Strictly Rhythm. This post however, is obviously focused on the Low Steppa remix, as he's done some really cool work at blending his signature production style and sound with the instantly recognizable Deep Inside.

Check out the Low Steppa remix featured below, or check out previews of all the remixes featured on the release on Strictly Rhythm's Soundcloud page here.

- KJ

Carly Rae Jepsen - I Really Like You (Mike Williams Future Remix)

So I've been having an internal battle ever since I found this track as to whether or not I should post it on freshdrops, since its such a guilty guilty pleasure. In the end, I decided there's no way I can withhold this sugary frosted future house goodness from all of you and just keep it for my own private pleasure, and so here is the post.

Carly Rae Jepsen is a name that should be fairly recognizable, as she is likely responsible for at least one song that you've had stuck in your head... Which again, I had a very Todd Edwards-y dub remix that I had the guilty and cheeky pleasure of throwing into a few sets here and there. Well she's back with an equally persistent earworm, made all the more enjoyable by Netherlands based Mike Williams putting a future house spin on it. And it's available through TropiKult as a free download.  If you enjoy hitting repeat an ungodly amount of times, listen and download below.  If you're not into mashing repeat, you may want to pass on this one.  Seriously, don't even listen.  Hey, at least I warned you.

- KJ

Snoop Dogg - Peaches N Cream (JackLNDN Remix)

If you're looking for some serious summer vibes, look no further - JackLNDN delivers just that in his remix of Snoop's first single Peaches N Cream off of his upcoming 2015 album Bush. JackLNDN's bootleg has a laid back house vibe with warm synths throughout, while retaining the funky vibe from the original and featuring the full suite of Snoop lyrics.

Stream below, grab the free download and get the summer started.

- KJ

Ratatat - Cream On Chrome

It's been a minute since I've heard some new Ratatat material, so I was pleasantly surprised to stumble across this little number on my Soundcloud stream. Cream On Chrome has that distinct electronic rock Ratatat feel that anyone who has heard any of their previous work should easily recognize.

Ratatat released this as a single, and it is available via iTunes here. If you want to check out the music video made on what look like an array of fluorescent lightbulbs, it's up on YouTube here.

- KJ

Friends of Foes - Chronophobic

So this is a little different direction than many of our posts here on freshdrops, but we like to not get caught in a rut, and we always post music that we like. We also love featuring Canadian artists, especially if they're from our home province of Saskatchewan. Friends of Foes fits all of these descriptions, and this LP is a great bit of indie rock from the four-piece out of Saskatoon. Plus, Tony helped us out just by being a great dude when we were throwing shows in the Lydia's loft back in the day - the least we could do is show some support back!

If you're a fan of indie rock or folk, definitely check this out - you won't be disappointed. The entire album is really polished and catchy as hell!  Don't just take my word for it though, stream the whole album below, and pick up the digital download or CD for your collection for $12 or $15 respectively from their Bandcamp store. Chronophobic was actually released at the end of 2013, so this is some of their older work - but the band just recently rediscovered their Soundcloud account and uploaded it there.  If you're looking for a more recent offering from Friends of Foes, check out their single Winter, which was released back in October of 2014, and can be picked up on their Bandcamp Store for a single shiny loonie.  Keep an eye out for more coming from them though, word has it there's a new album in the works for early 2016...

Lastly, but probably most importantly, Friends of Foes are currently in the regional semi-finals for the CBC Searchlight competition. If you're a fan of their sound, make sure you head to their artist page for the competition and throw them a vote - there's no registration required, and you can vote once a day, so get on it!

- KJ

Klaves - Come On

If you've been following freshdrops for any length of time at all, you'll already know we're big fans of the folks over at Eton Messy.  They have come back today with the newest release on their free downloads series, with a really funky house track from Polish producer Klaves.  Come On is really a house track that goes to show that sometimes, less is really more.  A funky bassline, really cool vocal loop, some added keys and of course the drums all come together to keep things moving the whole way through.

Tune in and enjoy, and grab the free download courtesy of Eton Messy. Make sure to check out the rest of their download series, as there are some real gems in there that have been released previously.

- KJ

GotSome - Just A Feeling EP

The time has finally come! This EP was just released on Defected Records yesterday. I've been waiting for the title track since Defected teased it on their Defected in the House podcast last summer. GotSome doesn't disappoint, delivering two great originals on here, along with some quality remixes - my favourite is Sonny Fodera's remix of Just A Feeling.

If you're someone who likes their house music with a bit of a funky deep bassline flavour and a sprinkling of future influenced sounds, the boys from Bristol GotSome have you covered, and this is the EP for you. The whole EP goes hard, but don't just take my word for it - decently long previews are all in the player below. Pick this up as it's available now from a variety of outlets (Beatport, and Traxsource).

- KJ

Tapes - Almost

This Monday we've got a throwback to the end of November that graced our Soundcloud feed. Tapes delivers a smooth chill trap vibe on this.  This should get your Monday off on the right foot. This one needs little further description, hit play below and enjoy.

Oh, and it's also a free download. Imagine that?  Part of an entire free 27 track compilation from Shoeboxx Recordings.

- KJ

Friday Care Package - April 10th

- KJ

Ben Howard - The Fear (Elkoe Remix)

Indie Folk House? Can we coin that now? Has it been done already? If not, it's been done now - a really cool remix of Ben Howard's The Fear was just put up by a producer out of Calgary - Elkoe.

The majority of the original lyrics and instrumentation are left virtually untouched - so if you know the original, this will sound very familiar. Elkoe has essentially woven a house soundscape tightly into the open spaces left in the original recording.  If you are a fan of folk music or house music alike, this will have something for you.  Best of all, this was published as a free download, so jump on it.  You can download straight from the embedded player below.

- KJ

Tinashe - All Hands On Deck (Giraffage Remix)

Giraffage comes in hard with this fresh remix of Tinashe!  Premiered on yesterday (April 8th) by the blog Gorilla Vs. Bear, this is fresh.

The intro to this remix seems pretty standard, but the remix really drops in at 0:53 and goes hard. This is a really different style, I'm not sure how to best describe it.  It's kind of laid back deep/tropical house mixed with indie dance, and a contemporary take on Popcorn along with the samples from the original track. It is pretty different, but is overall a really enjoyable remix - likely my favourite remix of this track I've heard to date.

Stream in the player below.  I'm not too sure on any release for this, but keep your ear to the ground for that.

- KJ

Micetro X Casual Magic - Love In Color

I'm a bit late in posting this one, as it's been up for a couple months now, but I just came across it and had to share.  Micetro and Casual Magic came together to make this bit of energetic chill trap (Is that a possible combination?  Listen and you'll see what I mean...) and released it as a free download.

Love In Color has really warm synth work, heavy trap style percussion, along with chopped vocals that seem to be delivered with a kind of laid back urgency.  This track seems to sit right on the fence between really energetic and chilled out and laid back.  Brought together, it's a thoroughly enjoyable piece of music to listen to the whole way through, and is available to grab for your music library for absolutely nothing aside from a Soundcloud follow.  Have a listen below, and pick it up for your collection.

- KJ

Angelz - Useless ft. A.J. Crew

It's not often you come across a G-House track that samples classic Gorillaz that also features rap on top, but thats exactly what Useless from Angelz is.  Making use of the hook from Gorillaz' iconic track Clint Eastwood, Angelz builds a G House background around the sample, which holds on to some of the Gorillaz feel, but moves it into house genre territory.

If the rework of the Gorillaz wasn't enough for you, A.J. Crew is featured and lays down some serious lyrical content overtop of everything going on.

The result is Useless, check it out below and download for free.

- KJ

Felon - Closer

Felon, a crew of three London producers, have only been around for a little over a year, but have blown up over this relatively short span of time.  Felon's tracks are really well done, so it's no surprise that they are now getting attention from major labels such as Ultra Music. From really cool remixes to very polished originals, Felon's material is rock solid from start to finish.  If you don't believe me, just head back to their Soundcloud and see for yourself. Their first single that was released was Isla, and one of my favourites that was also picked up by Ultra is Colour.

Felon is back again with a new track set for dancefloors and beachside sets the world over, straddling a line between deeper tech house and garage, and the summery vibes of tropical house.  Let yourself G a little closer, and have a listen for yourself below.  You won't be disappointed.  Then hit the download button at the top right hand side of the embedded player, as Felon and Ultra have released this as a completely free download.

Don't forget to check their Soundcloud page for more past heat.

- KJ

Feki - Remember

So we could have waited until later in the week to post this... or maybe until next Monday, since it fits the Mellow Monday vibe so well, but we thought why not post it when it's still fresh?  This amazing chilled out track from Feki was uploaded just a few hours ago, and it's already racked up a couple thousand plays on Soundcloud.  It's no mystery as to why this is, as I've already listened to it multiple times since the first play through.

Remember starts out with a laid back key intro, and slowly introduces vocals and deep bass drums that make up the majority of the stripped back percussion.  At the 1:30 mark, Feki drops in some natural piano work which compliments the instrumentation up to this point spectacularly. Feki isn't content with just continuing down the same path with his music, and this is a perfect example of this approach.  Rather than keeping things the same for the second drop, he introduces an interesting bassline just short of the 3 minute mark, and that last drop brings in everything left in the track.

Get this in you to finish off your Monday.  It's fresh, it's quality. And it's up for free download.

- KJ

SYRE - Burn ft. Kendra Dias

This Mellow Monday is brought to you by SYRE and Kendra Dias, a producer and vocalist respectively, both based in Vancouver. As always, I love it when I come across spectacular music like this coming from right here in the Great White North. Next Wave seems to have recognized the talent here and has released this as a free download through their label.

Burn is a great mix of instrumentation, sampling and smooth vocal and lyrical work, meshing together to create a great contemporary indie dance track with some real pop crossover potential. All in all, this is a great track to get you through your Monday. Or any day really, why let Mondays have all the fun? Get this in you and grab the free download by hitting the shopping cart in the player below.

- KJ