ATSIC S05E36 - Racing Along
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Below this write-up, you’ll find the track list, complete with artists and their hometowns. You can listen here and follow along, or if you’re using the Mixcloud app, hit the “…” to check out the track list while you listen.
Other seasons, episode 36 has been a nod to the Wu, with the entire mix featuring Wu Tang tracks and collabs. It’s been fun, but tricky to keep at least 33% Canadian content in a full Wu tribute. This year, I decided to give it a rest and instead built yet another 100% Canadian lineup. That said, I have kept one Wu tradition alive: each episode still kicks off with a Wu track, and this time it’s 4Life Music featuring Merkules and an uncredited Method Man on "Come Up" from Trust the Proce$$.
Toronto big homie Asun Eastwood shows up twice in this hour—first on “Fear of God,” a new single from Pretty.Ugly with Rigz and Dystrakted and a hook featuring a Method Man scratch sample. A few tracks later, he’s back with “Boasy Flex,” where he jumps on an Imperetiv beat to tell y’all to grow up. I thought he rapped, “…the cold make you bitter—and humans are social, but now I’m “socialist twitter” … but after a few listens, I decided he actually says, “now social is twitter.” Funny enough, when I interviewed him, he described himself as something like a “capitalist communitarian,” so his economic views aren’t easy to pin down. Maybe he’ll join me on socialist twitter one day. It’s called Threads.
On “Smoke on the Grand Line,” New Villain and Vincent Price call on One Piece with references and samples from the anime. It’s my pick from their new album, Baroque Works. The title track’s also dope, but that flip on Meth’s How High bar sold me sold me on this one. Three straight tracks featuring some sort of Johnny Blaze if anyone’s keeping score—fitting for episode 36.
Raz Fresco is another Toronto lyricist in this mix, as prolific as anyone. It’s a tight race to see who drops the most from the TO scene, honestly. I played “BREAK BREAD,” a collab with Dibia$E from their new project. The whole thing is around ten minutes with four tracks, but Raz has used “waterfall releases” before, which means dropping one track at a time onto an album, so that might be the case here, I’m not sure how long the album is supposed to be in total. It’s a strategy to bump up plays I think, but I’m not totally sure how it works.
“Missing Teeth” is a new standout from Daniel Son and Finn’s Hare Brained Schemes. Daniel’s another TO underground artist who doesn’t quit on the lyrical boom bap and stays consistent with every new project.
Montreal’s Nicholas Craven hosts heavyweights Ransom and Stove God Cooks on “Unreal,” delivering on that sinister vibe. Let ‘em cook.
Swamp Thing’s new Slap Slap album is fire, and I spun “Dirt Slang” this episode because I heard Timbuktu say my name in the bar when I was listening through the other day. I thought about cutting the line up a bit to scratch it in, but honestly, it’ll probably be better if Dice handles it, I’m still no turntablist. I was feeling lazy this time and just kept the track as-is—this one’s dope, and the album is another October drop worth hearing in full.
“Earborn” from Mickey O’Brien’s Post Cards EP produced by Fresh Kils is a look back at his history and rise. Mickey’s a good dude who deserves the wins he’s getting, and Fresh Kils is a beast on production every time.
Out west, K-Rec and Moka Only are back together again on “What About Now” with Dinco D. Moka’s in smooth, familiar form on this, flowing over an airy funk beat.
From the East Coast, Stephen Hero and Uncle Fester’s The Squeeze delivers “Smoke Em (If You Got Em)” featuring Dee Hernandez and Wolf Castle. They’re out on a maritime tour together with Wolf right now I think, but I’ve been trying to get Stephen to send a shirt out to the prairies cuz I won’t make it to the gigs. The album is great, and the merch follows suit. There’s a new video out from it too, check out the spooky visual for “Jean & Simone”.
Wolf Castle is another East Coaster representing Pabineau First Nation. “Da Air” from his Waiting for the Dawn project has some glorious horns on the hook and a more eerie vibe on the verses. I’d like to know who produced this one; the dynamics are on point, and Wolf’s energy carries it perfectly. He’s got a new video out too, peep “Goes Around”.
“Built Like That” is from Gully and The Lytics, who’ve long represented the Winnipeg scene. It’s a mellow beat, with veteran deliveries from all the artists on it.
Calgary’s Rob Roy teamed up with Toronto’s Tha Rhyme Animal recently on “Game Is Rigged.” The freestyle Rob sent me last season has been collecting dust, so I managed to fit it in s a drop at the start of this episode. I think it worked out.
Quake Matthews rarely misses, and his new one, “B-Real,” is no exception. He posted that he did the hook himself, channeling the Cypress Hill legend’s style so well it fooled a lot of listeners. Reality raps are my favorite kind, be real.
Emcee K-Ski, a guy I met briefly when he played a show in Lethbridge, and Isaac Zale are up next, followed by the last tracks “Dark Forest”—a preview from Shark’s Year of the Sharkman, which drops today, November 1. We finish strong with a song from Reflections, his new project with Es, which ties into our interview on Fly in Formation right after the mix.
After this episode, catch a new Fly in Formation with Es, a Mississauga emcee with a new album out now with Shark the SOB, “Reflections”. We talked about the album, aging gracefully and evolving as an artist, working as a team with collaborators, the ever changing indie grind, and more. You can find this interview and past episodes on YouTube in the FiF playlist.
I did a “Making of #ATSIC” stream for this one, but the most exciting it really got was when I showed the process for cutting a clip and adding captions. I had to sit and buy all this week’s music before I could get busy, and I didn’t bother breaking out the turntables this week, just slapped it together on Ableton quick as I could. I got bored before I yelling on the episode, and ended the stream. Typically, you can catch me live on Twitch weekday afternoons while I listen to a wide range of indie rap digging for gems, game, record my own music, or talking to friends or artists for FiF interviews. Join the chat, share your thoughts, or just vibe.
Fly in Formation is back to weekly episodes. Tune in every Tuesday for interviews with artists across the country as I dive into local scenes and creative processes. Tuesday Nov 5 I talk to Def3, whose Hip Hop/EDM crossover success has been fun to watch. We’ll talk about that and a bunch of other important stuff. Come through, hit subscribe on Twitch, skip the ads, and chat live while we stream.
I buy every track I play on ATSIC unless it’s sent to me directly. Streaming barely pays, so it’s essential to support indie artists by buying their music, tickets, or merch to keep them creating. Listening to #ATSIC on Mixcloud is free for you, and makes sure that each song you hear pays the artist at least SOMETHING. Spotify pays 0.006 CAD per stream, and only if the song hits 1000 plays in 3 months. Assuming a song gets 1000 spins, that means it takes around 125 Spotify plays to earn an artist the same .76 cents they earn from my 1.29 cent purchase on iTunes.
Shows like After the Smoke is Clear also need support. If you appreciate discovering new music without the algorithms, or if you appreciate my efforts to get indie artists music in more ears, consider donating via PayPal to help me buy the tracks and keep the show going. Every dollar helps indie artists and ATSIC alike.
If you can’t donate, that’s cool—just spread the word! Shoutout to everyone already supporting financially, by sharing the show, or by coming through in comments and chat to help build community.
Stay up.
