Gary Barlow chats to Prince Harry about Jubilee track, obvs giving him …

WE have some amaze news.

Gary Barlow has revealed Prince Harry will feature on his new track Sing, helping out with his awesome sounding tambourine skills.

The Take That star went all over the world to find different artists to perform on the song, but he obvs knew where to turn for a toe tapping background beat-maker.

The Prince – who’s romance rumours with The Saturdays star Mollie King kept us on our toes – is said to have refused to sing on the track but agreed with Gary that he would lend his tambourine hitting talents to it.

Read More: Dannii Minogue tells Simon Cowell she won’t return to The X Factor ]

And it seems musical passion runs through the family, as Gary revealed it was Prince Charles’ idea for him to feature artists from around the globe for the track.

He said: “in my chat with him he said ‘If you really want the Queen to like this, find people; go and travel and find people’.”

The 41-year-old seemed rather excited about the song – which hits the shops on Monday May 28th – first radio play today, writing about his excitement on Twitter.

See Also: X Factor’s Gary Barlow meets BGT’s Pudsey, tweets snap of proud moment ]

He wrote: “On my way to @achrisevans breakfast show! This is it,the result of thousands of miles travelled,weeks of recording in one 3 minute record.”

We can’t wait to hear it Gary!

Reggie Watts on his dream project: “I’d like to make commercials”

Reggie Watts is a performer who truly defies categorization. A brilliant stand-up comic and an impressive actor, he’s best recognized for live sets that showcase the convergence of his improv experience and beatboxing skills, made-up-on-the-spot songs with glitchy, looped and layered hip-hop beats under absurd lyrics about whatever’s on his mind — like pancakes or Avatar or more serious, thoughtful fare.

His music has soundtracked staples from Louie to podcast segment intros, but his work extends far beyond the comedic realm; while his debut album, 2010’s Why S#!+ So Crazy, was released on Comedy Central Records, his more recent live album came out (on vinyl!) through Jack White’s Third Man label, and Watts has appeared and recorded with artists like LCD Soundsystem and Regina Spektor. Die-hard fans even covet releases from Maktub, the hip hop band Watts has fronted since 1996.  

Though Watts is known for his widely varied interests — and his mastery of them all — it’s his improvised, effect-heavy live show that’s earned him considerable attention in recent years, landing him on late night stages and best-of lists left and right. And on Saturday, May 26 and Sunday, May 27, you can see him in Austin at the Scottish Rite Theater. (FYI: If you’ve never caught a live Watts show, this round-up of his 30 best videos is an excellent introduction to his eclectic style.)

(FYI: If you’ve never caught a live Watts show, this round-up of his 30 best videos is an excellent introduction to his eclectic style.)

CultureMap caught up with Watts to talk about his commercial aspirations, his tour setup and why being the king of podcast theme songs is kind of weird.

A clip from Watts’ latest special, A Live At Central Park (available on CD/DVD and digital download):

We’re excited to see you in Austin! How have you been getting ready for your upcoming tour?

I don’t have any preparation — I just kind of make sure I’m at the airport on time and make sure I get to the venue and go onstage. But I definitely observe things throughout the day, and have conversations with people, and usually that makes for a good show.

Have you been writing any material, or will it all be improvised?

I don’t write anything. I mostly hope that good stuff happens onstage — I don’t really have a setlist or anything like that, I just kind of go for it. Usually a structure emerges, or it kind of shapes itself as I’m going down the line; sometimes I know things, like I know I can go to the piano and do a certain thing, but I try to make it as new as possible.

What was the first instrument you picked up?

I started with piano.

How did traditional training evolve into improvised, effect-heavy style you’re known for now?

I just like absurd things, and I think you can really do absurd things with topics like sex, or violence, ignorance, things like that — you can go to extremes. I don’t know what it is, but it’s really funny. If you approach things from a different angle, if you approach sex as this mechanical, clinical thing, or biological thing, just basically explaining how it happens matter-of-factly — weirdly enough, it’s kind of funny. You’re just reciting information or facts about something, and it’s just so dumb that someone’s actually doing it that it becomes entertaining, in a weird way.

 “If you approach things from a different angle, if you approach sex as this mechanical, clinical thing, or biological thing, just basically explaining how it happens matter-of-factly — weirdly enough, it’s kind of funny.”

Well, there’s truth in comedy, right?

Yeah, it’s like hyper-truth, definitely.

Do you try out new equipment and effects a lot?

Yeah, for sure. But the thing is, I rarely add something for the road; I used to just have the Line 6 DL4 [delay modeler], the green pedal, and then I ran into the Electro-Harmonix 2880 — I got that because we could record four tracks, and take them in and out and stuff like that, but it was a different kind of looping machine so I had two looping machines. And then I recently added reverb, to sound like I’m in a big hall or a big room or something, as another effect. So I have delay, reverb and then two samplers, two sample loopers. It’s still really small, and it fits my rule of, I want my show to never be larger than my backpack.

At SXSW, I saw a screening of Legend accompanied by the score you recorded — do you have any other similar projects you’re working on?

I’d like to make commercials for different companies and products that I like, but not sanctioned by the companies. That’s definitely not a new thing, but I would like to do commercials that look like a real commercial, almost all the way through, with just one tiny piece of slightly exaggerated piece of information — really really subtle. The rest of the commercial is exactly how, you know, a Ford F150 ad would look — the sun going down over a hill, you can see the dust trailing off, there’s the sound of doors slamming, the tailgate slamming, and there’s a helicopter shot of a truck going down a country road or through a construction site. That kind of stuff, find a way to do it cheaply but like a high-end truck commercial. So, if you see something that looks slightly wrong from a company in the future, it might be my crew, I don’t know.

Commercials always exist in a slightly weird reality to begin with.

They are, but it’s kind of a weird thing to like, do a commercial for a company but do it seriously, at their level — there’s no reason why anyone should do that, it’s just ridiculous. I just really love it. It’s almost like a private joke, for six people and me to go, “Oh, that’s hilarious!”

Watts live at Funny or Die:

You’re also on the upcoming IFC series Comedy Bang! Bang!; was filming the scripted show very different from the experience of recording the podcast version?

I wasn’t really too involved in the writing of it, just because they had a really small window to make it happen — Scott [Aukerman], Leo Allen and a couple other writers. They know I’m an improviser, so they left a lot of stuff open for me to interpret. There were definitely strong guidelines, but I could still kind of read the situation in real-time and go for it. I guess they wrote in advance, but in the heat of the moment, as far as improvising, if they liked something I did they’d keep it.

You also recorded the theme for the show; you’ve kind of got a corner on the comedy show theme song market.

It’s such a weird thing.

Have you done any others recently?

I haven’t done a theme song lately — I re-did the theme song to for Comedy Bang! Bang!, it’s still the same song but it’s more hi-fi and has new instruments in it. I guess the last theme song I wrote was Key Peele. I do like doing that kind of stuff, and I think it would be fun in the future to do something that was a little more well-funded so I could do something really cool. I’m always interested in it. People just ask real quick, because it’s just so easy to improvise something, come up with a catchy way to frame the show.

Your latest special, A Live At Central Park, was just released; what can viewers expect?

It’s one gig that I did at Central Park right after a really heavy rainstorm, so we kind of lost half the audience — but half of them stayed through the rain to see the show, so good on them for sticking with it. It’s a nice open, outdoor experience, with good camera coverage — directed by Duncan Skiles, the same guy who directed my first special — and there’s this is kind of weird story told in little video vignettes. That’s what you can mechanically expect.

—

Catch Reggie Watts live in Austin at the Scottish Rite Theater on Saturday, May 26 and Sunday, May 27. Tickets are still available online.

Review: Tenqa REMXD $39 over-the-ear Bluetooth headphones – Cans this good …

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For a pair of headphones under the $50 mark, we often find ourselves recommending something like the standard $35 Apple earphones. You typically can’t beat the sound quality (build quality up for debate) for the price, but if you want to go Bluetooth, pickings are slim in the under $200 category.

If you’re looking for DJ-style, over-ear Bluetooth headphones, your options are even fewer before hitting the $250+ price point for a wireless pair of Beats By Dr.Dre.

However, at just $39, Tenqa’s Remxd Bluetooth Headphones are clearly not for the pros, but looking at the Bluetooth alternatives from Rocketfish, Sony, and Sennheiser, they definitely impress at a fraction of the competition’s prices. They were also built with iPhone in mind, which means they pack in a mic and controls for handsfree calls, just like Apple’s stock iPhone earphones…

Pros: You’d likely expect less than spectacular build-quality from a $40 pair of over-ear headphones. The good news is our favorite part of Tenqa’s headphones is the solid construction–Sony’s over-ear headphones under $40 feel flimsy in comparison. They certainly don’t have the plush cushioning of higher-end headphones, but we had no complaints with comfort or fit with extended periods of use. The sound quality is decent– They are comparable to anything else with Bluetooth, mic, and remote at the price point– but they can sound boxy compared to Apple’s high end at times.

For battery life, we had no issues getting the 15 hours listening time before having to recharge (takes 3.5 hours for a full charge). You shouldn’t have an issue getting the 22.5 hours talk time and 180 hours standby time Tenqa advertises.

The headphones include a built-in mic, pause/play buttons, a button to answer calls, on/off switch for Bluetooth, and a volume wheel that also allows you to navigate through songs. There is also a 3.5mm input for the included USB charging cable, and 3.5mm cable (in case you want to go without Bluetooth). As for the built-in mic, you get what you pay for with sound quality. It’s adequate for indoor calls, but you won’t want to rely on these when there is a lot of background noise.

Cons: Unfortunately the sound quality doesn’t quite live up to even Apple’s earphones if you’re after an accurate reproduction of your source audio. While the tone quality of Apple’s earbuds tend to be closer to neutral than not, Tenqa’s cans go the way of Dre’s Beats with boomy, sometimes over-the-top bass. The audio performance starts to show its weaknesses when comparing to Apple’s $80 In-Ear Headphones, which also include a built-in remote and mic. Another $20 will get you Sony’s $99 DR-BT101 Bluetooth headset, a noticeable step up in audio performance.

Don’t expect everything to go smooth with your Mac. These were designed specifically for iPhone, and they don’t always play nice with your Mac even after successfully paired. Tenqa said its complicated getting the headphones to work 100% with all bluetooth drivers, which is a fact of life for most manufacturers.

Should you get them? 

For the average, casual listener, the difference in sound quality compared to Apple’s earphones definitely isn’t a deal breaker. Those that don’t mind or prefer the unnatural bass of a pair of Beats by Dre won’t be bothered, but at the end of the day you’re still compromising on sound quality in exchange for bluetooth and solid construction/design at a $40 price point. We reviewed Tenqa’s over-ear headphones, but the company also has a wrap-around design with similar specs for $25. If Bluetooth is a must, you’re probably not going to find a pair of over-ear headphones at this price that compare to Tenqa’s.

You can grab them on Amazon or through the company’s site here.

‘Vow’ flashes potential, lacks experience

‘Vow’ flashes potential, lacks experience

Published 1:19pm Saturday, May 19, 2012

“Vow”

By Kimbra

3.5 out of 5 stars

Kimbra has been featured on a hit single, appeared on “Saturday Night Live,” and her album has charted in the Top 10 in multiple countries, but she’s just now primed for her own release in the U.S.

The New Zealand artist became a household name, thanks in large part to her appearance on Gotye’s hit single “Somebody That I Used to Know.”

Kimbra’s own debut album “Vow” was released back in August and September in New Zealand and Australia, charting in the Top 5 in both countries. The album is officially going to be released in the U.S. May 22.

The album opens with “Settle Down” and “Something In the Way You Are,” which set up Kimbra’s sound as a pop that falls between bright, accessible choruses and brooding instrumentation.

Oddly enough, a few more down moments would benefit Kimbra’s sound.

There’s not much subtle about her sound. Even “Two-Way Street,” the first slow track on the album, is infused with drum beats, backing vocals and a collage of bells, strings and instruments.

The pleasant “Old Flame” takes on a 1980s vibe, until the song begins disappearing into aggressive drums, and vocal harmonies.

Sure, Kimbra’s overlapping vocals on songs like “Old Flame” and “Good Intent” are part of her charm, but the mix often outweighs the album.

The sound is firmly rooted in pop, but Kimbra aims high, mixing in other genres, and clearly trying for something beyond simple catchy grooves.

It’ll be interesting to see how Kimbra is received in the U.S. The album falls somewhere in a strange middle ground between eclectic and catchy, but never firmly settles on either.

It’s not as instantly gratifying as Adele, but there’s whole host of instrumentation backing Kimbra, and each song unfolds with multiple listens. There’s a lot of substance to the songs — maybe even too much.

At times, the beats, droning instrumentation, Kimbra and her backing vocals blend into musical overload.

In fact, it can be exhaustive to listen to the entire 55-minute album at once, largely because there are rarely down moments to break the wave of sound.

Kimbra’s highly beat-driven, diverse pop can be seen two ways: On one hand, it could bridge the gap between mainstream pop and more predominantly independent listeners and stations, but it’s also conceivable to see her fall between the two.

At 21, Kimbra flashes skill and potential, but she doesn’t always have the musical experience to hit the gas and brake at the right times.

Design Flaws that Look Hot: Just Another Average Day at Astro Studios

Find your happy place with a pair of Sol Republic headphones

What do the Nike+ FuelBand, the Boxee Box and the Xbox 360 have in common? All were given a boost by Astro Studios, a small San Francisco-based design outfit you’ve probably never heard of.

One Friday in April, while most of the 25-30 staffers were hustling to get their space in the South of Market neighborhood prepped for a gallery opening, Astro’s top tier sat down to discuss their process — how they’re able to so reliably churn out an innovative, eye-grabbing solution to a range of design problems.

Sometimes companies come calling hoping for a bit of inspiration to give their product a boost on the shelf. Other times entrepreneurs seek out the studio to transform their kernel or bit of raw technology into an entirely new brand.

The founder of Sol Republic headphones came hoping for a complete refresh. A year before the cans popped up at the Apple Store in October 2011, Kevin Lee, the son of Monster Cable’s founder and an ex Beats by Dr. Dre exec, asked Astro to help develop a new headphone concept.

Astro already had a whole division devoted to making headphones for gamers. Lee had a hunch that there would be demand for high-style, quality headphones for less than the $250 sticker shock of Beats by Dr. Dre.

Astro Studios’ early Sol Republic prototypes

Astro was in. But before they started mucking around with ink, pixels and materials, they had to figure who they were designing for. Where does their target consumer shop? (Answer: Nixon or Diesel) What do they listen to? (Answer: hip-hop, electronica) What kinds of clothes do they wear? (Answer: G-Star jeans, sports stuff) Knowing the landscape helps designers better understand how their headphones might fit into the early-to-mid-20s dude demographic. (Yes, as it turns out, headphones are gendered.)

“First you immerse yourself in a lot of different info, then you put it all in a funnel in the designer’s hands,” says Brett Lovelady, Astro’s founder and CEO.

Sketching out the design

Early on, the designers used the information to dream up a wide range of possible forms. “There is still lots of hand sketching, but they can quickly take that to a computer and give it some life, some color, three-dimensionality,” says Lovelady. On the computer, they used a white-light scan of a head as their canvas. The scan allows designers to sketch their ideas out in 3-D.

Once they think they’ve landed on something, the designers print out the possibility. In just a few hours Astro’s in-house 3-D printer produces a model to manipulate and try on.

Parts from Astro’s in-house 3-D printer

One thing the team realized while tinkering is that headphones are often overly complex. The wiring is largely to blame. Unlike earbuds, most over-the-ear headphones have one cord that stretches up to one speaker and then over the head to the next. The setup makes adjustment complicated and the profile clunky. So why not go the way of the earbud? Keeping the cord off the dome would cut down the cost and streamline the style. Win.

The result is a simple stand-alone band that relies on friction to adjust — enough so that the speakers won’t slide, but not so much that they wont budge when you need them to. It also means the band is replaceable. Sick of standard black? Swap it for red instead.

The band solved a lot of problems, but it created a few, too. When the speakers slide on the band to fit your head, excess plastic is left dangling, like on a belt. For a while Astro considered making the material snap-able by scoring the plastic. The idea was that once someone nailed the fit, the leftover would be easily to trim off.

But before they made any drastic changes in design, the company gave the prototype the mirror test. “We found that people didn’t mind [the extra length],” says Astro partner Kyle Swen.

It’s a lesson in allowing designers to fail their way to success: Astro’s design ‘problem’ — the band that extends past the speakers — ended up being what made the brand stand out. So much so, they decided to incorporate the silhouette into the earbuds, too.

The result is a headphone concept worthy of its those hip-hop-grooving, G-Star-sporting dudes. Astro says Lee agreed to tattoo the Sol Republic logo on his body should they come up with one that was worthy of his product.

No word on whether or not he’s got a sound wave on his bicep yet. But if the headphones hit, he’ll know Astro’s design is more than skin-deep.

Logos that didn’t make the cut

All images: Courtesy of Astro Studios

Kaleidophone’s TT tour

Published on Saturday 19 May 2012 07:00

THE kaleidophone was invented in 1827 by English physicist Sir Charles Wheatstone, as an instrument to make sound waves visible and tangible. Kaleidophone the band was invented in 2008 in Kent, for – if you indulge in a bit of abstract thinking – much the same purpose.

Not to be confused with a kaleidoscope however – the child’s tubular toy with colourful changing patterns within – let’s get that established early.

Upbeat indie pop-rockers Kaleidophone are a four-piece who in their own words ‘mix disco drum beats, spiky guitars and deep, fuzzy bass to create a familiar and fun sound’, with cited influences being the likes of The Wombats, Vampire Weekend and Bombay Bicycle Club.

If that sounds like a tasty musical biscuit to you, then praise the rock gods, as they are coming to a town or village near you this TT fortnight.

Vocalists and guitarists Al Holland and Mark Wells, bassist James Holland and drummer and synth player Mark Thompson will make the pilgrimage from the south of England to play The Engine Room at the Ship Inn in Castletown on Friday, May 25, The Northern in Ramsey on Saturday 26, The Whitestone in Ballasalla on Sunday 27, Bushy’s Beer Tent in Douglas on Tuesday 29, an afternoon acoustic fundraising gig for the Northern Lights Community Centre in Ramsey on Wednesday 30, ahead of a gig that evening at The Crosby Hotel and rounding up with a final appearance at Bushy’s campsite on Thursday. There are also hopes of arranging a gig for Monday 28, and filling a few more afternoon slots.

This won’t be the first voyage across the Irish sea for Kaleidophone, who are signed to Tin Robot Records, having played a string of Manx gigs in 2011.

Their website still features a short memoir of that visit, when their first gig was at The Creek in Peel: ‘Peel is an incredibly beautiful place, windless (thankfully, after the ferry crossing we’ve seen enough wind for now!) and oozing charm. The venue is right on the front by the water and it’s a great night with the local crowd. We played two sets, the first of which was fairly tame but the second became an epic indie-rock party – they had to drag us from the stage at closing time!’

The band finished and released a debut album – What’s Your Tonic? – last year after spending six months in the recording studio, and it is a very slick affair, as you might expect from a record mastered by John Davis, of U2 and Florence and the Machine experience.

They have toured tirelessly since, and attracted airplay from BBC Radio 5’s Victoria Derbyshire for singles Mr Palava and Wrecking Ball in the process. See the band’s website www.kaleidophone.co.uk and their YouTube channel kaleidophonemedia for recordings, videos and interviews for a decent taste of their sound.

Kaleidophone take a degree of pride in the wide, or potentially wide, appeal of their music, with the songwriting manifesto that ‘it’s all about the songs, sing along tracks that get stuck in your head. Guitar and vocal hooks are a must.’ With the majority, if not all, of their TT gigs looking like they will be free to attend – the Manx public have a great opportunity and excuse to get out and have a listen to a professional band who take their music and performances seriously – and the songs aren’t half bad too.

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遊拍拍 桐花影像募集 抽Monster高階耳機

【記者郭襄陽台北報導】「2012客家桐花祭」進入尾聲，今年的五月雪你看過了嗎？客家委員會「好客ING」客家影音網路平台特別推出「桐遊拍拍．拍出超好禮」活動，只要您把前往各地桐花景點拍攝的桐花相片與影片，按照活動主題將作品成功上傳至網站，就有機會抽New iPad等多項大禮；使用活動專屬APP上傳，再加碼抽Monster Beats高階耳機！

客家桐花祭是各地客家庄一年一度的花之盛事，素有「五月雪」美稱的桐花，開滿山頭的美景，總讓看過的人難以忘懷。為讓更多的人看到桐花與客家文化之美，客家委員會「好客ING」客家影音網路平台盛大舉辦「桐遊拍拍．拍出超好禮」相片影片募集活動，即日起至101年6月29日止，民眾只要針對各項桐花趣味主題拍下紀錄回憶，上傳影像至活動網站，就有機會帶回New iPad、王品牛排餐券及超商禮券等超級好禮。

此外更設有網友人氣獎，號召親朋好友幫自己的作品按讚，得票數最高的前兩名，直接送施華洛世奇Hello Kitty水晶項鍊、墾丁夏都酒店食宿券等獎勵。

「桐遊拍拍．拍出超好禮」活動分為照片組與影片組，共四大趣味主題，包括徵求與美麗桐花合影的「今日我最正」，運用桐花元素做出創意裝飾的「桐樣COSPLAY」，以及情侶、親子、團體出遊賞桐的「桐遊親親樂」等照片；而影片組則邀請民眾拍攝以「那一年我們與桐花…」為主題的30秒短片，不論風格，只要符合上傳主題內容，就能參加抽獎。除了可在桐遊拍拍網頁上傳作品外，更支援智慧型手機APP隨拍隨傳，iOS與Android系統均能安裝，使用活動專屬「好客ING」APP上傳作品，還加碼抽Monster Beats高階耳機。

桐遊拍拍「好客ING」APP不僅可以上傳活動作品，更內含豐富的客家影音內容，除可觀看令人感動的微電影《客家好愛你》幕後花絮，以及學實用客語的《哈客音樂盒》小單元外。「好客音樂」專區還有好聽的客家歌曲、民謠、音樂等，24小時隨點隨聽；「好客快報」給你最新的客家活動與桐花祭訊息，「主客嚴選」每月更新季節主題，讓你新鮮趣味長知識！更多詳情請上活動網站

http://broadcasting.hakka.gov.tw/files/976-1000-1.php。2012/5/18

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Q&A: Fat Tony Talks Young One Records, Bun B and Double Dragon

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This week the nascent Young One Records announced its flagship artists: the rappers Children of the Night, Main Attrakionz and one Fat Tony.

Hailing from the southern hip-hop hub of Houston and boasting connections with Das Racist’s Greedhead label, Fat Tony’s raps are nimble, chock-full of weird wit and idiosyncratic swagger. This and his propensity to rap over beats that sound like they’re from the year 2054 situate him nicely on the Greedhead roster.

Tony spoke with Nonstop Sound via email from his California apartment, with his producer, Tom Cruz, “trying to figure out who ate my pizza.” Double Dragon, his Young One-backed mixtape, drops June 1, and he has a show at Glasslands June 11 and Santos June 14.

Nonstop Sound: What does releasing music on Young One mean to you? What attracted you to them?

Fat Tony: “It means Fat Tony fans get a double dose of us Denim Guinness Boys this year. Two new records. The first is Double Dragon, a collaborative album with Tom Cruz. Totally produced by him too.”

NS: What can we expect from Double Dragon that’s different from your other work?

FT: ”Just a total progression of staying throwed in the game. More tight flows, tighter songwriting, crazy a– beats. I feel like every year is a step closer and I’m only getting better. I’m understanding what it means to make a great song every time I make a new album. I think Tom Cruz is really growing in his production too. We’re getting wiser and wilder with age.”

NS: Bun B called you “Houston’s best-kept secret.” What did that mean to you?

FT: “What may be the best kept secret to some is well known to a living legend. As a huge fan of the music I love and my home, it’s a big honor to have Bun B of UGK speak kind words on my name. And this was way before we even got together to make ‘Bad Habits.’ I grew up on UGK and appreciate a man like Bun being still involved in the mix enough to holler at a youth like me with some words of encouragement. God bless him.”

NS: What’s your process when you write? Do you put pen to paper, write in your phone, just commit stuff to memory?

FT: ”Straight to memory. Made both of the new albums coming out this year in my head and in the studio. Usually I think up a first verse at home and let the rest flow once we start recording.”

NS: How do you come up with song concepts?

FT: ”The concepts come from me and Tom Cruz bouncing around ideas and talking things out all day, all night. Sometimes we’ll think up a song while he’s making a beat in the wee hours of the morning. Sometimes it’ll be a song one of us thought up in the past, sometimes it’ll be something brand new that comes to one of us suddenly. We learn from each other’s abilities, and give each other the respect and trust to add our own touches to the record. I’m happy that Tom Cruz is a producer in the realest sense and not just a damn beat maker. He sticks with the song through the whole process of me writing and recording it, guiding it to where it needs to be. You need your Quincy Jones to be a Michael Jackson.”

Scene & Heard M. Constant blurs borders of hip-hop and dance

For all of the vaunted democratizing power that the inception of hip-hop introduced into the world of DIY music, there’s been a similar, no less important paradigm shift in recent years, as the proliferation of easy-to-use production techniques have filtered down into the consumer marketplace.

Two turntables and a microphone may seem worlds apart from a MacBook and a copy of FruityLoops, but the software revolution has had an enormous impact on the ability of kids at home to jump straight into the game with nothing more than an omnivorous appetite for records, an ear for a tune, and hours spent doing the drudge work of mastering the new tools of the trade. Noel Munger, 21, a.k.a. M. Constant, an exciting young Boston hip-hop producer who released the intriguing “Bugged EP” (www.jasssite.com) this week, is one recent example.

The catch is, his music doesn’t sound much like hip-hop at all — at least not in the traditional, popular music sense. Hip-hop has long had a tendentious relationship with electronic dance music, as recent controversies over the electro-fying of the genre have brought back to the fore, but the periodic blurring of genre boundaries has found occasion for the two to meet in harmony when there’s a common goal in mind.

“When people ask I generally just say it’s hip-hop for the simplicity of it,” Munger, a Utah native who moved to Boston in 2009, says of his style. “I’m guessing there are a fair amount of people that would disagree with that classification. It’s definitely hip-hop based, rap beats are my first thing. But I go into tempo ranges that are more in the dance genre. I like to [mess] around with rhythms, sampling records and making beats out of the hip-hop mind-set.”

Songs like “Us Tempenauts” bear that logic out. It’s built on a familiar head-nod hand-clap one-two beat, but swaths of cresting and drawn-out synth notes hold a steady buzz. The melody is laid down by a sitar, and the vocals are stretched-out and effected to the point they become textures rather than foreground. “Transitrip” is a slowed-down track where the sounds of broken glass smashing, car horns, and industrial tool effects accentuate the snare and kick under a glitchy bass line and a sparse, echoing vocal sample.

Prior to this, his only release to date was a collection of idea-track instrumentals built as a foundation for sampling called “Construmentals Vol. 1.” Most of the tracks, all around or under two minutes long, manage to pack in a wealth of cinematic string melody and deep, watery atmosphere.

Some of that inventive sound-collage technique comes from Munger’s experience as a musician — he played guitar, keys, and cello from a young age, he says. For most of the elements of the EP he leaned on live tracks laid down by himself or his friends from groups like the experimentally ambient Sonnymoon (whose Anna Wise contributed the foundation for the manipulated vocal tracks) and Tyler Randall of the electronic music collective ElecSonic (who played the sitar).

“I’ll have basic beat ideas, then get together with friends and have a jam session, record, and whatever comes out I’ll just chop it up,” Munger says.

There are more traditional hip-hop-style samples in the mix as well, “but generally, I try to mangle them beyond being recognizable,” he says. Munger layers keys and guitars over the top to round out the compositions.

The EP is the second release from the Boston and the Atlanta-based label and roving dance party known as JASS. “He definitely comes from hip-hop,” says Patrick Loggins, one of the JASS cofounders, who also produces music under the name Time Wharp. “He has this really interesting aspect to his sound that only could come from being someone like him, kind of an eclectic sound, reaching out in all these different directions at once. His palette that he picks from is very kaleidoscopic. Where a lot of cats will go for a lo-fi sound, his stuff cuts through clearly, all the drums and synths up front right in your face.”

JASS’s previous release, “Companion 1,” was a showcase of Boston and Atlanta production talent in the hip-hop/EDM crossover mold. “It’s about sharing the music with people, it’s from a need of just seeing all this talent in Boston and Atlanta,” Loggins says of his motivation for starting the label this year. “A lot of stuff in the East Coast is not getting as much attention as stuff in the West Coast and across the pond. It’s kind of more just like trying to spread the word to let people know this stuff exists.”

It’s starting to work, as people outside of the local scene are slowly starting to catch on to M. Constant. “I mean, I’ve gotten attention here and there, but for the most part been on the down low,” Munger says. He’s more concerned about perfecting his tracks, the rest can come later. In the meantime he’s also in the process of looking for a home for a nearly complete full-length release.

“I’m just trying to really get the music exactly where I want it before I start throwing my stuff all over the Internet,” he says. “With this release I’m starting to put myself out there. I want to use this to get people’s attention.”

‘When people ask I generally just say it’s hip-hop for the simplicity of it.” – M. Constant, whose “Bugged EP’’ (above) was released this week

BONUS TRACKS

“Wise Words,” the first of five EPs set for release this year from John Morabito, a.k.a. Dark Stormy, drops later this month on the Hotfingers label. The two tracks here are a blast of progressive tech-house, with insistent hand-clap and high-hat beats pushing through unfolding static and tightly woven bass grooves. The moniker might sound like an overcast downer, but it’s a misnomer, at least on this bright and sunny release. Morabito, who has previous releases on labels like Metamimetic, Mokilok, and PitchBend Recordings, will have an EP release party the week of May 28. Check www.soundcloud.com/darkandstormy for details. . . . Petrol, the popular fourth Tuesday dance night at the Middlesex Lounge continues this month with a celebration of their third anniversary on May 22. On hand will be two big names from the taste-making DFA label, Juan Maclean and Justin Miller, alongside residents James Gerard, Greg Teves, and William John. “Petrol is a night devoted to disco and house catering to those who love the music above and beyond the club scene,” promoter Gabi Aguilar explains. “The crowd is usually made up of MIT grad students, DJs looking for something outside of the overplayed club bangers, fashion taste-makers, and creative types looking for a well-mixed cocktail and music that stands the test of time.” Visit www.middlesexlounge.com for more information.

Try BostonGlobe.com today and get two weeks FREE.Luke O’Neil can be reached at lukeoneil47@gmail.com Follow him on Twitter @lukeoneil47.

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