For the next Colectivo Digs feature, we would like to call your attention to Memphis’ Gavin Mays aka Cities Aviv. Shout outs to Memphis for this fantastic submission into the eclectic hip-hop landscape. The Memphis rapper draws inspiration from a wide variety of music, ranging from soul to minimal wave. 90’s hip-hop is no stranger in his creative mood board. Although surrounded by three six [mafia] albums, Memphis rap, and other underground rap influences, Mays, spent his time listening to metal, alternative rock and punk, and even became part of a hardcore band–Copwatch. After Copwatch disbanded, Mays, decided to give writing rhymes his full attention. As per his profile on tumblr and facebook, his mission statement is to make pop music for the unpopular.
The 22-year-old idiosyncratic Memphis rapper’s main body of work can be heard in the debut CD, Digital lows. In digital lows, cities hits us with an uncommon flow, precise wit, and amusement-laced ferocity from an outsider/insider perspective onto hazy tracks and the occasional jaggy boom-bap beat. Cities aviv brings some serious personality and originality, evident in his references to 90’s cult bands, 90’s hip-hop, rhythms and witty rhymes. Digital lows won’t be anything you can pigeonhole either; it is intended to be all over the place, just like the scatterbrained rapper.
So now that you know what’s up, keep track of Cities Aviv via his twitter: @citiesaviv and be on the lookout for his next batch of old school inspired, twisted, and future searching beats & rhymes.
moving on with the next episode of the colectivo futurecast we have a very cool mixtape by madrid-based, IDM producer christian del moral aka adapt. with a couple of releases on spanish netlabels, such as miga and ltw, christian has been carefully developing his sound to become one of spain’s promising artists. a creative soul from a tender age, he also makes rad illustrations to go along with his sound-design skills. in this IDM-centric mixtape, christian showcases some of his current and past favorites, alongside his own productions. it’s a perfect listen to cool down after a warm day. read our interview with adapt and listen to his colectivo futurecast below…
I spent a couple of days trying to figure out how to approach the podcast you’d requested, until suddenly it got clouded and started raining one afternoon. this got me inspired and I started recording the set without thinking about genres or adjusting to a particular sound. the pieces started falling together along with the rain and some other things that were influencing me in those days.
* how did your first steps in music production come about? how have your productions evolved from the beginning up to present day?
Ever since I can remember, from the moment I heard the first chords as a child, I wanted to make my own songs. Unfortunately, it has taken me quite a few years of listening and listening to all sorts of music, to finally arrive, self-sufficiently, to what I consider is the doorstep of music creation.
Regarding my evolution, I would probably highlight the mixdown techniques. I think it’s an area where all producers slowly keep getting better. Quite possibly, this evolution, is what makes my harmonies and ambiences become looser and more present than before.
* are you involved in any other creative projects aside from music production? we’ve notice you also have some illustrations on your site, is that something you would like to focus on in the future?
I try to focus on sound design as my profession. Mi illustrations are synonym with not being inspired musically at the time; I tend to easily move the sequencer aside if something is bothering me or if my creativity is frozen. that’s when I try to use my time to illustrate, since it’s an activity that I always enjoyed. In terms of focusing it as a professional endeavor, I’ll leave that in the hands of anyone who would like to propose an interesting project.
* what do you normally listen to at home? which are your three favorite albums?
At the moment I can’t stop listening to “House of Balloons” by The Weeknd, an artist that quite simply fascinates me. Other things I’m hooked on this month are Phoenecia, Downliners Sekt, Frank Ocean, Ametsub, Crisopa, and a greatest hits album from Camarón de la Isla.
I probably couldn’t say which are my three favorite albums, but without thinking too much about it, these are the ones that come to mind:
- Ryuichi Sakamoto – Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence
- Arovane & Phonem – aer (valid)
- Boards Of Canada – boc maxima
* what do you enjoy the most about living in Madrid?
The countless creative hours spent at threefishestudiolab, despite the fact that this infernal summer might try to stop me.
*what does the future have in store for your productions and other projects?
Currently, I’m focusing on finishing the tracks that will become part of my new record on a label from Barcelona. As far as other projects go, I’d like to mention the one I’m about to finish with one of the best electronic music artist’s this country has to offer, Rec_Overflow. It will be something cold, melodic, and in my opinion fresh and very current sounding. We’ll also start preparing a live set with lots of fog, lettuce and fireworks!
we first discovered manchester based Lawrence Roberts via twitter. gradually we started noticing that our tastes were pretty much aligned musically, and it was only a matter of time before we got him to do a mix for our colectivo futurecast series. Lawerence currently runs the archival and music exploration blog Listen Further (link), there he writes short blurbs about artists and projects he finds essential, not only from a musical standpoint but also from a conceptual one. previous posts have featured the works of influential artist such as boards of canada, burial, and more recently eliane radigue. on this mix, Lawrence explores the realm of avant-garde electronic musics to absolute perfection, resulting in a deep, bass centric selection best suited for headphone listening on late nights.
LISTEN FURTHER aka LAWRENCE ROBERTS (Manchester) twitter|tumblr
* how and where was this mix recorded?
The mix is some current listening and a few old favorites, it’s a headphone mix really. I would say that 80 % of my listening is to ‘electronic’ music, and the mix showcases some of the diversity that makes this genre the one to keep up with, in my opinion. The mix is not recorded live, i’m no dj (yet!), I put it all together using Audacity.
* what were your first incursions with electronic music? where do you presently stand, musically speaking?
My first big musical step came during the early-00s whilst at high school (pre-broadband), exploring my local library’s ‘electronic’ cd section beyond the ‘Ibiza Anthems’ compilations. I loaned two Boards of Canada albums and an Aphex Twin remixes compilation, which instantly translated to purchases. At around the same time I started to set my minidisc to record the Breezeblock each Monday evening, so I could listen back to the show whilst doing my weekly paper round. That show really expanded my mind, and my ear.
A decade later I’m based in Manchester, UK, my job doesn’t involve music but much of my spare time is spent buying, listening, talking and reading about music. The North of England is a great hub of electronic music, we have the Modern Love Label operating out of Manchester putting out local artists like Demdike Stare, Claro Intelecto and (now Berlinite) Leyland Kirby. There’s Autechre over in Rochdale, Philip Jeck in Liverpool, SND and The Black Dog in Sheffield, I could go on…
* tell us about your current project, Listen Further. what is the concept behind the project?
I’ve been running the Listen Further project for about a month now, it currently exists as a Twitter and Tumblr stream running concurrently. It’s a little corner of the internet where I can post about current listening, online music resources and draw together some connections. I decided to stick to Tumblr and Twitter for now because I can keep it brief to read, a gateway straight into music or a quick connection elsewhere.
Last month I ran a feature where I posted a pick of six unreleased Burial tracks that have been chopped out of radio mixes and posted on Youtube by fans. This is the type of thing I’ve seen talked about on forums but never seen the videos collected in one place before. I also ran ‘Further with…’ features on two albums, creating imaginary (and subjective) ‘further listening’ lists. My first choice was Boards of Canada’s ‘Geogaddi’. I listed neighbors The Incredible String Band and Stereolab’s early sampling of numbers stations as key reference points for BOC. Amongst the other selections were Broadcast and Mordant Music, as I hear so much of this album’s influence in the current hauntological trend.
* what do you normally listen to at home? which are your top three favorite albums ever?
In terms of listening at home, I find myself going through podcasts and mixes on weeknights – listening to newer stuff, and the playing older favourites on my record player at the weekend. Things that often grace the turntable at home: Kraftwerk, Cocteau Twins, Oneohtrix Point Never, Drexciya…
Three favorite albums:
1. Grouper – Dragging a Dead Deer
2. Basic Channel – BCD I/II
3. William Basinski – Disintegration Loops
* what is your favorite thing about living in Manchester?
Best thing about living in Manchester is the dedicated promoters working like crazy to bring artists here to play!
* how do you expect Listen Further to grow in the future?
I hope to get more people involved in Listen Further in the future, the more the better I guess in terms of variety! Just working to establish an initial flow for the tumblr/twitter feeds at the moment before putting out a call.
take us with you!
