Hackurr's Music Blog

  JD senuTi (formerly known as DJ iTunes) is an American vaporhouse and future funk producer who was active between 2015-2020. Known for producing a series of fantastic EPs and three major label albums - (2015's Apex Report on AMDISCS and 2015's Rendered Fruit and 2016's Composite both on Business Casual) he became known for fusing chilled out, warm textures and ideas with samples and house beats reminiscent of the late 90s house music scene. I personally found out about him through his final album Composite, which is a smooth listening experience throughout filled with sweet grooves and thumping beats, before I later moved to his entries into sample based work such as the Concept Gallery LP and Rendered Fruit, both of which play off of the future funk and vaporwave scene which was just beginning to take shape online. He also worked very closely with Phoenix based house music producer ID Chief, and the two of them worked together to make various electronic music singles inc...

  I feel like this one has been a LONG time coming. In today's blog post, I'd like to show my appreciation for French electronic music duo Daft Punk - who over the course of 28 years changed electronic music and released a string of incredible albums, each with their own unique styles which are equally appreciated not just by Daft Punk's fans, but across the world. I first discovered the robots' incredible music when I was about ten years old, in 2019 - I had been on a huge binge of  well known electronic music artists at the time (The Chemical Brothers, Fatboy Slim, The Prodigy, etc) and after I started getting into modern house music (most of which I can't remember now) I discovered their first album Homework, released in January 1997. I immediately fell in love with the album - it's funk filled nature and groovy beats hooked me instantly and it introduced me to house music properly at a time when I was beginning to break out of my shell musically. My favourit...

  Hey, fellow readers of my blog! I've decided to start a new section for this blog named "The Story Behind" which is meant to detail how and why some of my own musical work was made, along with various interesting bits and anecdotes from the production process. To start this section off, I have decided to write about my first EP Sugalumps, which is turning a year old next week. INTRODUCTION: The entire EP was produced on ProTracker 2.3, a music program from January 1993 built for the Amiga (a series of computers that became popular with musicians and creatives in the late 80s and early 90s) and ProTracker is known for its limitations - 4 channels of mono 8 bit audio, only 31 samples are allowed and there are barely any mixing controls provided. To add, it also relies entirely on different counting systems and complex commands. I wanted to make an EP using ProTracker to challenge myself, as I had been making music for two to three years using various music programs such a...

  Started by graphic designer and music producer John Zobele in May 2013, Business Casual (known as Business Casual 87' until 2014) has become one of the most well known and praised labels to come out of the internet music scene as a whole since the label's founding a proud eleven years ago. For those that don't know - Business Casual specializes in "internet music" - this can range from vaporwave to future funk to sweet nostalgic pop to underground late night jams (and the odd bit of electronica in some weird cases - even jungle!) so there's something for everyone in the label's extensive catalogue of over four hundred releases, making it a goldmine to explore, listen and discover new and awesome things. To provide examples, BC initially started out as a small vaporwave label, with contributions from artists such as architecture in tokyo, REVERB LITE and even John Zobele himself under the name christtt. Over time, the label developed and some interesting ...

  Released on Future Retro London in December 2023, prolific jungle producer Phineus II's first solo release on the label is regarded by many fans and fellow producers as a modern jungle classic - filled with samples, tough breaks and the distinctive edge that many rave releases of the early 90s had. Spread over two 12" vinyl and eight tracks is a sonic journey through the mind of one of the underground's most loved and respected producers. Recorded over the span of a decade in his home somewhere in England, every track captures the distinctly different and interesting style he is able to capture in his music and this album demonstrates that brilliantly thanks to heavy tracks such as the seminal E Takes Me (a track recorded when he went under the name "Squatski) and heavy rollers such as Selector Sayz (my personal favourite on the album, however it sure is hard to pick!) All of the tracks on this album were sequenced, recorded and mixed using classic hardware that man...

  Released on Brighton based label Savona in early 2017 and classic Hong Kong label Neoncity in April 2019, Fibre's only compilation album to date comprising of various singles has since been regarded as a future funk classic and is heavily praised for its unique sound, production style and eclectic, interesting ideas. This album is how I came across the Romanian producer's work a few years ago while looking for new things to bump - and since then it has been a staple in my listening for a variety of different reasons, all of which will be explained in this review. Throughout the twelve tracks featured, Fibre is able to demonstrate with ease his instantly recognizable style of production, complete with dominating melodies and exciting yet wistfully nostalgic ideas, pieced together with hard hitting beats and an irresistible club-fueled nature. This is predominantly evidenced throughout tracks such as "Don't Stop" and "My Lady" (respectively tracks one an...