| Artist Spotlight |
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Open Mike Eagle Open Mike Eagle Press Release "I think there's a place for art rap, or lit-rap, or smart rap, or whatever, and I don't think it has to be some corny nerdcore shit. I'm willing to bet my rap career on it. I think its possible for it to be a "thing," something that can have legs... Maybe be indie-rock's retarded cousin." - Open Mike Eagle |
| Up-Coming Shows | |||
| 08-06-2010 | Open Mike Eagle | Chicago, IL, US | Flatiron Historical 212 |
| 08-07-2010 | Open Mike Eagle | Minneapolis, MN, US | 7th St. Entry |
| 08-09-2010 | Open Mike Eagle | San Francisco, CA, US | Elbo Room |
| 08-11-2010 | Open Mike Eagle | Palm Springs, CA, US | Space 120 |
| 08-12-2010 | Open Mike Eagle | San Diego, CA, US | |
| 08-13-2010 | Daedelus | Woodstown, NJ, US | Salem County Fairgrounds |
| 08-13-2010 | Open Mike Eagle | Phoenix, AZ, US | The Hidden House |
| 08-14-2010 | Open Mike Eagle | Pasadena, CA, US | Terrace Cafe |
| 08-20-2010 | Listener | Florissant, CO, US | The Nature Place |
| 08-28-2010 | Eliot Lipp | Charleston, SC, US | Music Farm - Meltdown Massacre II |
| More Shows | |||
| News | ||
| 07/2010 - Deru Podcast For Plasmodium | ||
| Deru recently mixed a hypnotic set for the Seattle-based internet radio show Plasmodium. Everyone from Haiku D'etat to Mos Def to Mush's own Qua gets a makeover at his deft hands. Listen here! | ||
| 07/2010 - LA Weekly Interviews Open Mike Eagle | ||
| LA Weekly reviewed Open Mike Eagle's album Unapologetic Art Rap this week and talked to him about it at length for good measure. Read the conversation between Mike and seminal Los Angelean music journalist Jeff Weiss here. | ||
| 07/2010 - Open Mike Eagle Tours With Everyone Good Ever | ||
Open Mike Eagle is OFF! The summer will become his loyal puppy as he embarks on one amazing tour after another. First up is an extensive west coast jaunt with Moka Only, Ceschi and Factor that begins on the 8th of July. Check out the show preview Universatile Music did for their Phoenix show here and get the details for the tour on the shows page here. Next, he's off on a handful of dates with none other than Psalm One from Rhymesayers! Once the dust has settled from that roadrunner-worthy sprint, he teams up with the man, the myth, the impolite abstraction, Abstract Rude, for another
smattering of west coast shows. Don't sleep, don't nap, neither should you blink, because Open Mike Eagle rapping in your town is not an event to be missed. | ||
| 06/2010 - Open Mike Eagle Listed In 10 Best Hip Hop Albums Of 2010 | ||
| Open Mike Eagle's critically adored album Unapologetic Art Rap has been picked as a tie for #4 best hip-hop album of the half-year by journalistic luminary Jeff Weiss. Check out the full list and Mike's write-up on Jeff's blog Passion of the Weiss. | ||
| 06/2010 - Head Like A Kite West Coast Tour | ||
Head Like A Kite is touring the west coast and are kicking things off in the northeast, bringing things to a close in California. Check the shows page for more dates.
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| 06/2010 - Lymbyc Systym Takes Asia | ||
Lymbyc Systym is poised on the brink of a comprehensive tour of Asia. They're meeting up with fellow Mush artists 4 Bonjour's Parties in Tokyo to play the first date, and then it's off to China, South Korea, the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia and Taiwan! Details are on the shows page. | ||
| More News | ||
| Recent Reviews |
| MH-268 Deru - Say Goodbye To Useless Aiding & Abetting |
| Deru starts this album somewhat elliptically, with something in (I think) French. And then things slowly begin to pick up. The skill involved in such an impressive slow rollout is almost impossible to fathom. Very few folks can pull it off. After a couple of listens, I can't imagine a better way for this album to kick off. |
| MH-265 Qua - Q&A Two Thousand |
| The latest release from Qua (pronounced, "kwah") bounces into your grey matter like a wave of technicolor cartoon plushies. Q&A is a shimmering sonic lolly bag; it wouldn't seem out of place to hear 'Ritmo Giallo' soundtracking the latest Super Mario Brothers game. |
| MH-265 Qua - Q&A The Silent Ballet |
| Writing about music can be really difficult at times. It can be difficult if you hate an album and it can be difficult if you love it because in both cases you lack the objectivity to describe it accurately and resort to adjectives that don't mean much to the readers of the review. It's even more difficult, however, to write about albums you're not sure what to think of. What usually happens in that case is that we end up listening to the album so many times that every second of it becomes so familiar, we have no idea whether we like it or not. |
| MH-265 Qua - Q&A This Is Book's Music |
| The opening track on Qua‘s Q & A (Mush) sounds like what Prince could’ve sounded like if he grew up being influenced by equal parts of Larry Dunn, Daft Punk, and The KLF. The music has an incredible amount of not only melody and counter-melodies, but with an equal emphasis on bass frequencies and an ear for out-of-nowhere samples, with the drums in “Circles” as an example. It would make for perfect music for films, surfing documentaries, porn, video games, or wedding presentations. Okay, maybe wedding videos would seem left of center but then again Q&A (a/k/a Cornel Wilczek) isn’t creating music from any rulebook. He plays by his own rules, creating these deluxe productions that somehow manage to limit themselves perfectly, a bit of chaos within a bit of structure. Some tracks, such as the mid-tempo “All Breath, No Body”, would sound great with vocals from Madonna, Nicole Scherzinger, or even Omarion. What I also like about the track is that when it begins it sounds as if it’s ready to take off and take you along for what could have been a luxurious journey. Sadly the song only goes for two minutes, working as a link between two sections of an album. But what it leads to is the incredible “Goodmorning Sun”, beginning in a folksy manner before opening itself to intense drums and a maniacal synth groove. It comes off like a manipulated revision of 808 State‘s “Pacific” mixed in with Chemical Brothers‘ “Block Rockin’ Beats”. |
| MH-269 Open Mike Eagle - Unapologetic Art Rap Playground Mag |
| I’m stepping a little out of line to recover “Unapologetic Art Rap”, by Open Mike Eagle. It’s put out by Mush, and that is enough of a clue to tell us that we aren’t looking at an orthodox hip hop album. This California MC corresponds to the profile of the restless rapper, with a little culture, progressive tastes, who likes the latest Fashawn album and the latest from TV On The Radio. The indie-arty connection is on the scene once again, with splendid production and the work of a promising MC. - Playground Mag |
| For more reviews, visit the detail page for the Release you are interested in. |













































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| Latest Releases | ||
![]() MH-269 Open Mike Eagle Unapologetic Art Rap 05/11/2010 | ![]() MH-268 Deru Say Goodbye To Useless 03/09/2010 | ![]() MH-045 Deru Peanut Butter & Patience 01/26/2010 |
| More Releases | ||
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Clash Thavius Beck Track Of The Day Clash Magazine streams the Flying Lotus Remix of "Away" by Thavius Beck as Track Of The Day. |
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Olive Music Bibio Profile Olive Music interviews Bibio about his new music, his old music, books, DJs and more. |
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NME K-The-I???, Thavius Beck Radar Who the hell are Kiki Ceac and Thavius Beck??? Hip-hop's most abstract architects. |
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UGS Mag Open Mike Eagle Open Mike Eagle Project Blowedian and L.A. via Chicago transplant, Open Mike Eagle, has not just released one of the best albums of the year, but one of the best debut releases in ages. |
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Hennessy Club Sessions Her Space Holiday Her Space Holiday Live At Hennessy Artistry Club Sessions Hennessy Artistry Club Sessions presents a performance by Her Space Holiday, featuring backstage interviews with singer/songwriter Marc Bianci. |
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Peace Magazine Deru Free Deru Megamix Download Peace Magazine offers an expansive live DJ mega-mix Deru put together that comprises a whirlwind re-imagining of his own music with a few twists and turns along the way. |
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OC Weekly Thavius Beck Hip-Hop Classic Thavius talks with the OC Weekly about his eclectic tastes as they encompass punk rock and classical music. |
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Impose Open Mike Eagle Fresh Daily Open Mike Eagle won't apologize for his ravings. We have no problem with that. His ravings are justified, even encouraged. |
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Cleveland Scene Daedelus Pre-Show Q&A We recently exchanged e-mails with the traveling electro dandy (he dresses like a Victorian statesmen onstage). We soon realized he was definitely one of kind. |
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Headphone Commute Deru Profile 2 Headphone Commute catches up with Deru to talk about his collaboration with Jody Talbot on Genus - an electro-acoustic score or the ballet choreographed by Wayne McGregor, as well as his Mush debut, Say Goodbye To Useless |
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Electronic Musician Lymbyc Systym Brothers In Audio Lymbyc Systym's sibling connection has no geographical bounds. |
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Performing Musician Thavius Beck Profile PM catches up with LA-based electronic hip-hop artist, producer and formidable live performer, Thavius Beck, on the eve of his 2009 European tour. |
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MH-242 Caural - Remembering Today
A beautiful, near haunting mix - XLR8R / Offers much to appreciate - Grooves / It's real easy to love - Aiding & Abetting / Worthy of deep, focused study - Orlando Weekly / Each track packs its own little surprises if you listen carefully - 3Hive / Music simple enough to be sexy and complex enough to linger - Signal To Noise |
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MH-257 Sleeper - Behind Every Mask
Another impressive new producer helping push the parameters of hip-hop outward to the creative extremes - Boomkat / Warm, organic and lively - Spacelab / Sleeper strayed from the music herd long ago. It is now everyone else’s challenge to go find him - Larryville |
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MH-206 cLOUDDEAD - cLOUDDEAD
Genius. - Mixmag / Utterly Essential - NME / Enthralling - All Music Guide / Startlingly Original - Wax / Certainly Beautiful And Strange - Rock Sound / Fascinating And Addictive - Esquire / A Landmark Album - Seven / A never less than intriguing debut - Q / Unequivocally the finest space-rock-rap album of 2001 - Mojo |
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MH-210 Qua - Forgetabout
Forgetabout is a thoroughly enjoyable electro-acoustic record - Grooves / Qua has brought a new level of craftsmanship to Australian electronica - Cyclic Defrost / Charming, innocent and enticing - Vibewire / Exceptional debut album - Substrata / A great achievement, hurrah! - Stumblings in the Dark |
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MH-239 Bigg Jus - Poor People's Day
Powerful messages on top of amazing beats is what this album is about - Ghetto Blaster / Built on the imagination and intellect which made Company Flow one of the most farsighted hip-hop acts - Q / This is one of the best albums of 2005 - IGN / The poetry of Jus’ critiques is, in a word, unmatched - Okayplayer |
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MH-241 Nobody & Mystic Chords Of Memory - Tree Colored See
Awesome! - XLR8R / Stunningly beautiful - Lodown / A perfectly crafted blend of psychedelic hip-hop and sunshine folk-rock - The Test Pilot / Very beautiful, refreshing music - Big Takeover / Lovely - Skyscraper / An enchanting album - Synthesis / Tree Colored See's rural fetish is seductive – Mojo |
| Featured Video | |
| Lymbyc Systym - Shutter Release Directed by: St John Mckay Smith iPod Video Download | |
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Flying Lotus
Flying Lotus has his familial roots in jazz and his current, ever-expanding roots buried deep in the fertile soil that is Los Angeles beat making. Breaking onto the scene in the subtlest of ways by hypnotizing the insomniacs among us via cartoon network Adult Swim's late night bump music, he has since released three critically acclaimed albums that draw comparisons to J Dilla and Madlib while simultaneously presenting an obviously new spin on the idea of composition itself. Get a peek into the robotic orchestra through the remix he did for Thavius Beck on Go! Away. |
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Fog
Andrew Broder is the creative force behind Fog. A formidable DJ and musician, he has carved out a unique niche for himself with releases on Ninja Tune and Lex that combine brilliant songwriting and musicianship with subtle hip-hop and electronic flourishes. His appearance on "The Noggodnick" from Antimc's release It's Free, But It's Not Cheap, perfectly captures this aesthetic. |
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Nocando
James McCall, aka Nocando, has been proving his heft as an MC for over a decade. A Scribble Jam battle champ, and host of the long-running Low End Theory, he has proven a knack for both off-the-top battle rhyming and brilliant written verses. His skill as a writer shines on Thavius Beck's Thru, he brings his prowess as a battle rapper to Open Mike Eagle's Unapologetic Art Rap and comes through on K-The-I???'s album Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow. |
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Saul Williams
After coming to fame as a poet and award-winning screenwriter/actor, Saul Williams has established himself as one of the world's most important lyricists. His guest appearance on Thavius Beck's 2008 album, Thru is a hip-hop tour-de-force. |
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Devendra Banhart
Devendra Banhart has been pushing boundaries in music and art for over a decade, requiring entirely new genre labels to be coined in an attempt to describe his otherwise impossible-to-categorize stylings. Be it under the umbrella of psych, avant or freak folk, New Weird America or just guitar-fueled lovliness, Devendra is adept at making beauty from mystery, a skill he lent to Nobody & Mystic Chords of Memory when he reinterpreted their song "The Seed" on the single Broaden a New Sound. |
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Stereolab
Called "one of the most influential alternative bands of the '90s," it is hard to overstate the impact of Stereolab. From pioneering the amorphous post-rock movement to redefining what it means to be conscious artists in the 21st century, Stereolab is (was) a force unto itself. Their re-interpretation of Her Space Holiday's song "Girl Problem" appears on his album of remixes, The Young Machines (Remixed). |
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Four Tet
At the vanguard of what became known as the folktronica movement, Kieran Hebden's production as Four Tet has grown and evolved, as he has proven to be one of electronic music's most engaging and enduring artists. Four Tet reworks Pedro's source material into a 20+ minute free-jazz epic on the Fear & Resilience EP. |
| MPFreebie |
![]() | Head Like A Kite Daydream Vacation from MH-259 There Is Loud Laughter Everywhere Head Like A Kite welcomes Asya from Smoosh as she lends her sweet-as-pancake-syrup voice to the slightly dark, endlessly memorable "Daydream Vacation" from HLAK's album There Is Loud Laughter Everywhere. |
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Scientism Andre Afram Asmar - Racetothebottom
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| More Ringtones | |
![]() MH-402 Various Artists Ten Years Of Mush Records |
![]() MH-269 Open Mike Eagle Unapologetic Art Rap |
![]() MH-268 Deru Say Goodbye To Useless |
![]() MH-269 Open Mike Eagle Unapologetic Art Rap |
![]() MH-268 Deru Say Goodbye To Useless |
![]() MH-267 Lymbyc Systym Shutter Release |
![]() MH-268 Deru Say Goodbye To Useless |
![]() MH-267 Lymbyc Systym Shutter Release |
![]() MH-266 Thavius Beck Dialogue |
![]() MH-265 Qua Q&A |
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![]() MH-270 Loden Buggy 08/03/2010 | ||
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