The Zen of Lim

a healthy dose of HNNY

Stockholm-based producer Johan Cederberg, aka HNNY (pronounced "honey") has been making quiet waves ever since he hit the scene with his first release on Studio Barnhus with Kornel Kovacs in 2011.  The soft-spoken Swedish producer with an odd affinity for Winnie the Pooh quickly became one of my favorite new artists the moment I first heard his unique, bass-laden edit of Steve Reich's "Nagoya Marimba." HNNY masterfully blends deep house and disco basslines with a wide variety of sounds from around the world. He has a wide range, giving classic soul tracks the sunny disco treatment (see: "Always"), to adding some dark and heavy bass that makes a song with marimbas appropriate for a heady late night crowd ("Nagoya Marimba" edit). HNNY also has a skill for breathing new life into older pop tracks such as "No Scrubs" ("No") and "The Boy Is Mine" ("Boy") to create entirely different atmospheres than the originals.

HNNY’s "Surf Dude" is perfect example of how he can take a tiny four bar sample, and with enough dusty filtering and bass variations, create a jam that is perfect for driving the PCH in a 15-min looped daze.

Finally, “Solsidan” is one of my favorite jams of the moment. This dreamy track conjures up the feeling of a Scandinavian summer and makes me yearn for that endless sunlight. Could another producer blend an Icelandic pop song with an Elton John drumbeat any sweeter than HNNY?

Steve Reich - Nagoya Marimba (HNNY edit)  https://soundcloud.com/hnny/steve-reich-nagoya-marimba

HNNY - Always 

https://soundcloud.com/nile-express/hnny-always-12

HNNY - Boy

https://soundcloud.com/nile-express/hnny-boy

Vintage Culture, Earstrip & Torha, Ellie Ka - Voices

MCDE (Motor City Drum Ensemble) - Send A Prayer Pt.2

Jamiroquai - Too Young To Die (Felkon Remix)

Midland - Before We Leave

Gold Panda - If U Knew (Reprise Long Live Take)

Martin Waslewski & Ole Biege - Odsbodkins (Hanne & Lore Remix)

De Hofnar - Zonnestraal (MÖWE Remix)

Mirror People - Kaleidoscope (Psychemagik Sunset Remix)

This remix is delightfully psychedelic. Psychemagik takes the funky, nu-disco original (link) and gives it a little dose of something that fractalizes and reshapes its vision. 

Fleetwood Mac - Dreams (Psychemagik Crystal Vision Remix)

So the Berlin house aficionado from Play It Down is going to be in SF on Saturday night, and I'm trying to motivate myself to get after it by posting two of my favorite summer-ready Oliver $ jams. To go or not to go? Edit: This show is $Free.99 if you download the YPlan app and enter the code: FIRSTCITY00 ($30 cred) and you could also try mine MLIM4 ($10 credit). Hooray for free shows!

Oliver $ and Jimi Jules - Pushing On

Temples - Move With The Season (Beyond The Wizard's Sleeve Re-Animation)

It's been a while since I've posted any new music, but I was inspired to write today after listening to a bunch of new songs that felt too good not to share. My writing is definitely rusty, so apologies in advanced if my musical descriptions don't make sense to you.

This first song is a warm, spaced-out remix of Temples' psychedelic "Move With The Season" by Beyond The Wizard's Sleeve. 

Under his moniker Beyond The Wizard's Sleeve, Erol Alkan creates a lush and dreamy atmosphere from the original by bringing the vocals to the foreground, and adding harps and strings which harmonize perfectly with the bass guitar. This "re-animation" is dramatic and filled with magic, and as Alkan strips down the noise, draws out the breaks and reintroduces the original elements piece by piece, it is hard not to be caught up in his wizardry.

Henry Krinkle - Stay (Justin Martin Remix) you should stay right now Justin Martin's remix of "Stay" is one of those songs that immediately captured my full attention upon first hearing it. I had heard this entrancing remix at various J. Martin shows over the past few months, but I wasn't able to find a copy of it anywhere until yesterday. Needless to say, I could barely contain my excitement when I saw that this massive tune was finally released. 

Deep City Groove - Police Brutality (Dale Howard's Brutal Mix)

This last track for the day is simply massive. Dale Howard brings his usual hard hitting, in-your-face bass on this remix. I heard this song at a recent all-night Full Moon party on the beach, and you can imagine what kind of energy a track like this brings to a crowd at 3:30am.

Sounds like: Amine Edge and Dance

Green Eggs and Ham, anyone?