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William Holland The dood who brought you Quantic, The Quantic Soul Orchestra, Quantic y Su Combo Barbaro is back at it with the some of freshest sounds on planet with a new project -> Quantic Presenta Flowering Inferno.
“With the Flowering Inferno, Will ‘Quantic’ Holland brings dub and reggae flavours to the Latin American and African sounds that he has been chasing round the globe since he first started collecting records. He introduced this project to the world with 2008’s stunning and highly acclaimed Death Of The Revolution, and considers this follow-up album a more cohesive whole – a deeper and more intrinsic fusion of these varying musical strands. An album inspired by soundsystem culture but widened out far beyond just reggae and dancehall styles Dog With A Rope is a Tropical soundclash - encompassing a heavy bass and reggae aesthetic alongside the Tropical dance-orientated music from Cuba, Puerto Rico and Colombia. While lots of DJs are currently playing both classic and obscure old reggae, funk and Cumbia, Holland noted that not many people are currently making new music of this type and building on these styles in a modern way, so with his signature combination of faith in the past and hunger to push forward, with this album he strove to make the connection. He recorded the album in his Sonido Del Valle studio in Cali, Colombia, the city he has called home since his relocation in 2007.
As well as the straight up reverb reggae of the lush, instrumental title track, the “Dog With A Rope” single also brings you “Dog With A Rope (Dub)”, a killer deep dub version exclusive to this single. You can also feast your ears on “Dub Y Guaguanco”, a steadily building mix of reggae piano stylings from Alfredito Linares and the Colombian rhythm Guaguanco, with a vocal coro from Colombian singers Orlando and Virgilio Hurtado (who also provided the vocals to “Mambo Los Quantic” on Quantic and his Combo Bárbaro’s highly lauded ‘Tradition In Transition’ LP, trivia fans).” -Jazz
Listen to the wonderful interview by Jeremy Soleon KCRW, as him and Quantic rap about the recording process, growing up in the UK, commonalities between Latin and Reggae music, and how this new record has married the two styles. CLICK HERE.
The “Dog On A Rope” single drops June 8 on with the full Dog On A Rope album releasing July 13 on the world-renowned Tru Thoughts imprint. Enjoy a couple previews from the new album below :)
With the release of Quantic’s latest project Dog On A Rope via Tru Thoughts this week, KCRW’s Jeremy Sole has compiled a fresh mixtape that uniquely travels through the many sounds of Quantic. Download here.
Bigups XLR8R for images, Mochilla for being dope and Jazz for putting us on!
Came across this mix today browsing Quantic’s website, and it just so happens that it rules!
Here’s a live DJ mix from Quantic, Mochilla DJs & DJ Sabo recorded at Mikasabar, Cali, Colombia.
This was an inspirational evening, Cali was treated to an array of fine music and mixing. In order of appearance: Quantic, Coleman, Sabo and B+ finishes things off.
Good lawd! The lovely folks over at Put Me On It have done it again with their super splendid mixes. The last bit from PMOI that we posted had an amazing mix from Kid Kanevil and this time around the We Love series kinda kills it with 40 amazing tracks from some artists you may be familiar with as well as some new artists you should be on the lookout for. Download the selections here. Enjoy!
PART 1 Andre 3000- I Do Andreya Triana - Town Called Obsolete (Mount Kimbie Rem… Azealia Banks - L8R Bishop Lamont Feat. Talib Kweli - Get ‘Em Girl (Prod by J Dilla/Focus) Bonobo - Walk In The Sky (Aaron Jerome Glitch Mix) The Cinematic Orchestra- The way we feel ‘Brother/The Revolution (Radio Session) DâM-FunK - NeverTongueInCheek (Edit) Department Of Eagles - No One Does It Like You (Do The) Fatback Band - Spanish Hustle (Danny Krivit Edit) fLako - I Want You feat. Dirg Gerner Flying Lotus - Camera Day The Foreign Exchange - Maybe She’ll Dream Of Me (Album Mix) The Gaslamp Killer - When I’m In Awe (feat. Gonjasufi) Gayngs - The Gaudy Side Of Town Gold Panda - Same Dream China J. Cole - Blow Up (Prod. By J. Cole) K-OS - Zambony (rmx) [Bonus] K-OS ft Drake - Faith Kanye West - Monster (feat. Jay-Z, Rick Ross, Bon Iver & Nicki Minaj) Kidkanevil - Ketto Revisited ft Bonobo
PART 2 Lissie - In Sleep (Live) M.E.D. - Candlelight (feat. Georgia Anne Muldrow) Melody Thornton - Love Gun Miguel Atwood-Ferguson Ensemble - Some Day We’ll All Be Free feat Bilal (Live) NastyNasty - Bleeding Nottz Feat. Alchemist - The 1ne P Money & Blacks - Anyway Phantom Lover ft. Nicholas Ryan Gant - Change (show me how) Quantic Presenta Flowering Inferno - Dub Y Guaguanco Raekwon - Travel Places RLP - Cheat Cords Roc Marciano (Prod. By Vanderslice) - Firepower Ron Isley (feat. Lauryn Hill) - Close To You Roska - Play Gamez Sébastien Tellier - Kilometer (A-Trak Remix) Shad - Yaa I Get It - Oddisee Remix Skyzoo & !LLMIND - Speakers On Blast Teenbs - Japan Field Report Twizz Ft. PM - Rememberlude
William Holland is a musical mastermind. His diverse sounds across the global landscape have been influential for over a decade. It’s possible you may have heard of one or several of his projects such as Quantic, The Quantic Soul Orchestra, Quantic & The Flowering Inferno or Quantic & His Combo Barbaro? With roots in the UK and now planted in Cali, Colombia, Mr. Holland is poised to make his next move sharing along the way many musical treasures and maybe even his homemade lemon curd!
We recently caught up with Will to rap about cumbia mashups, “Trees & Seas”, what makes music palatable and what he has in store. Enjoy and don’t forget to download a little Dub Y Guaguanco by clicking the down arrow on the track below :)
What are the first 5 words that come to mind that you might use to describe the music you create?
Saw you absolutely kill the Do Over a couple months ago with your Cali [fornia]-centric cumbia mashups like “Ain’t Nuthin’ But a G Thang”. How have you been able to hone in on such unique sounds making them into one seamless, danceable song?
Well, that came about from making a version originally of J Dilla, after that I got interested in covering other songs. The lines between hiphop and North American Black Music are slowly blurring with Tropical sounds like Cumbia, so it seemed fitting to try and ‘version’ some of these songs. I’ve been learning accordion in Colombia for a couple of years now so making specials like this are a chance for me to get better on the instrument and experiment with rhythms.
After a “bakers dozen” or so of releases what is one piece of musical equipment you couldn’t live without?
Well, I’d like to put it down to a fantastic piece of old equipment or eccentric piece of British sound engineering equipment. But in reality, I couldn’t live without a Mac Powerbook, since the first one I bought (and believe me I’ve got through a lot of them over the years!!!) its been an invaluable part of my production process. Its allowed me to travel the world fairly lightly and record all over Latin America & the States.
I have to ask what was going on when you created “Trees & Seas” and the whole Mishaps Happening album - it’s genius. It’s got the whole simple loopy hip hop, chill, melodic, cinematic vibe infused in it.
I made Mishaps Happening and particularly ‘Trees and Seas’ whilst living in Brighton, England. I’m not sure what was going through my mind. I’ve always enjoyed working with a loop aesthetic and building up the vibe slowly. I had started renting a small room in a shared studio complex in the centre of the city, I’d often stay there till the early morning making songs. I’d always leave the warm confines of the studio and listen to the songs I had made on the walk back home. I remember vividly listening to this song on completion, walking up the hill to my house in the Brighton mist at 3 in the morning.
Your music is so palatable to really any type of listener. P.s. my dad loves “Dub Y Guaguanco”. Is this a conscious effort?
Mmm… well I’m really into trying to make music as universal as possible. The only danger with this is that you risk softening up or watering down the music in the process. I’m trying always to tread carefully and make each song live up to its full potential. Some songs are more universal than others, and a style Reggae is one of the most universal there is.
Heard you play Ana Tijoux (who we love) on both the Soundwaves Radio show in LA last month and the Tropicalismo mix w/ the Mochilla cats & Sabo. What other female emcees/vocalists are you into at the moment?
I’m not sure why but I’ve always preferred listening to female rappers than male. I grew up with two sisters and a mother who were always singing so maybe that has something to do with it. Its also maybe that I’m not super into Macho Hiphop styles. Ana is great, very talented and definitely pushing things forward. I also like Goyo from Colombia’s Chocquibtown.
You’re based in Colombia and originally from the UK, where do you think you’ll live and dig for sounds next?
I really want to do something in Trinidad, a calypso orientated project of some kind. I’ve also been trying to get to Angola for years, hoping to get round to that this summer. Colombia has been very good to me and I enjoy living here dearly, but let’s see where life takes me.
Best show you’ve played, ever?
Oh god that’s a hard one. One of favourite DJ shows was in Sicily, in the yard of an old Wine Factory with Blossom falling from the trees onto the turntables. With the Combo Barbaro we recently played a fantastic show at the Worldwide festival in Sete, France, that was magnificent as the stage was set in an Amphitheater up on the cliffs looking over the sea.
Something most people don’t know about you?
I make a good Lemon Curd.
What are you looking forward to?
I’ m looking forward to performing at the Shock Awards in Colombia this week. I’ m also off to my family home in Dec, so looking forward to a good cider and English cheddar (two things Colombia just cannot supply me).
-J Marie
Just wanted to thank Will and Jasmine at Tru Thoughts for making this interview happen. This is a huge honor for me, I have been a Quantic fan for a musical lifetime. ♥♥♥ xx-jm
We are such huge fans of Quantic - the globally influential artist who over that last 10 years has bridged hip hop with dance, soul with funk and beyond, dub with cumbia and sooooo much more. His musical contributions are so fruitful and to celebrate, Robert Luis (Tru Thoughts A&R) plays some of his favorite Quantic tracks and tells some of the stories behind the music and Quantic’s various projects on Tru Thoughts.
The podcast includes an exclusive previously unreleased demo track from Quantic which still sounds great today.
The Best of Quantic 2CD album will be released September 13th via Tru Thoughts and also features exclusive new music never before released. The Best of Quantic covers the last 10 years of the prolific Producer/DJ/Musician, and showcases why Quantic is one of the most important and influential figures today. Keep checking Tru Thoughts for more info.
Enjoy this podcast from Robert Luis and re-fresh your memory (or listen for the first time) to some of the amazing, even life changing tunes Quantic has shared with fans over the world for the last 10 years.
Well this obviously needs no introduction. J.Rocc of the World Famous Beat Junkies and one of the best live djs EVER has remixed one of our favorite, continuously innovative producers EVER, Sir Quantic. Amazing.
An angel came down from heaven when we found out that two of our favorite artists of ALL TIME are joining forces to release an album next year! Quantic, the dynamic producer and live performer who’s been putting out amazingly unique and groundbreaking music for 10+ years under his own name, with his Combo Barbaro, Soul Orchestra and Flowering Inferno is back with yet another splendid project teaming up with none other than epic vocalist Alice Russell. One of the most soulful and tuned-in singers and performers of this decade, Alice couldn’t have been a better match for the ultimate collaboration album which will be titled Look Around the Corner. The album will be released in April of 2012 and will be available on CD, vinyl (yippie!) as well as digitally.
Previously, Alice and Quantic have worked together putting out tunes under the Quantic Soul Orchestra moniker as well as several other fantastic contributions worldwide.
Here are some reminders of where Quantic stems from, where Alice is coming from and where they’ve already gone together. Additionally, click here to visit Tru Thoughts’ Soundcloud for a little snippet from Look Around The Corner.
Quantic Presenta The Flowering Inferno - “Dub Del Pacifico”, Death Of The Revolution, 2010
Quantic - “Trees and Seas”, Mishaps Happening, 2004
Quantic Soul Orchestra w/ Alice Russell - “Pushin On”, Pushin’ On, 2005
Alice Russell - “Tired Little One” Under The Munka Moon, 2004
Quantic and Alice Russell are just about the best combo EVER and to put the cherry on top of an already amazing [Look Around The Corner] project - we have an acoustic version of “I’d Cry” to add to the list of gloriousness. Filmed by the super talented B+ of Mochilla in one take, enjoy this goosebump-worthy video.
