During the past week Pretty Lights Music the record label signed Gramatik to join the ranks of Paper Diamond, Break Science, and of course Derek Smith and Adam Deitch of Pretty Lights. Recently Gramatik has been working on the first-ever Pretty Lights remix album entitled Beatz & Pieces which is a follow up on his popular album Street Bangerz, so far PLM has only released one track called “So Much For Love” (free download below). In reference to his own work, Gramatik told PLM, “I never really considered these volumes to be albums. I always looked at them as hip-hop beats on steroids. They are still raw, sample based beats, but with evolved arrangements and wrapped in a fine layer of live instrumentation.”
In response to that, it is very hard to place Gramatik into a specific genre. He has some of the most amazing beats and sounds but has a very original style of mixing unlike other DJ’s. He doesnt exactly build a beat up and then drop it but keeps the beat interesting with great sampling and sounds throughout the whole song to really keep everyone listening. I think Gramatik will be a good fit with the rest of the PLM crew and if your lucky you can catch him touring this summer – all his tour dates are posted here on Gramatiks MySpace. Below are a couple of my favorite Gramatik tracks, one is a remix of Stairway to Heaven with a really great beat guaranteed to get your feet moving and another is a great example of his use of live instrumentation in his mixing off his Street Bangerz album. The last is Gramatik’s newest track and first track off his new album with Pretty Lights Music entitled “So Much for Love,” this one really knocks so enjoy folks!
Led Zeppelin – Stairway Hip-Hop Heaven (Gramatik remix)
Orchestrated Incident – Gramatik
P.S. Lookout later today for the inaugural post from DJ Prasian of Burlington, VT, enlightening us all on the breakbeat genre of EDM and one of the artists at the forefront of it, Stanton Warriors.