All these many ways to listen to DJ Matto’s remixes of Mickey O’Brien’s Twin Flame EP.
All these many ways to listen to DJ Matto’s remixes of Mickey O’Brien’s Twin Flame EP.
Celebrate the one-year anniversary of Mickey O’Brien’s Twin Flame – The Honeybear Saga with this remix of the EP by DJ Matto. It’s a whole new experience!
The EP drops on February 26. Pre-orders are open. You can preview one song on Bandcamp, but you can preview the full EP here, and only here, until the album officially drops…
If Spotify is your app of choice for music streaming, please consider pre-saving Twin Flame – Reshuffled, DJ Matto’s remix’s of Mickey O’Brien’s love- and lost-themed EP from last year.
Revolutionary rhyme ripper Mickey O’Brien, repping Sudbury, ON, has built a name for himself as a relentless force in Canadian hip hop music. Since moving on from Kill the Autocrat, O’Brien has released a solo album and an EP, as well as another EP as one half of horror duo Magick Show, each one unique, bold, and raw. All on Hand’Solo Records. To celebrate the one year anniversary of Twin Flame – The Honeybear Saga, O’Brien’s love- and loss-themed project heavily influenced by the Tarot, DJ Matto (of Japan’s +/-) reimagines and remixes the EP. Or rather, he reshuffles the deck.
To introduce Twin Flame: Reshuffled, dropping on February 26, 2021, O’Brien presents the video/single for “The Tower (Reshuffled)”, the video edited in the land down under by Greenboots. The track is an unflinching dive into love, relationships, destiny and desire, drawing on Tarot imagery, key to the EP’s concept. The Tower card represents chaos and destruction, and a negative Tower event can be akin to a bomb going off in your life. You don’t know how you will survive, but as the song relates, ultimately it makes you the person you are.
Credits:
Written and performed by Mickey O’Brien
Remixed by DJ Matto
Cuts by DJ Uncle Fester
Mastered by Dorc
Video by Greenboots
The year 2021 is a big year for Hand’Solo Records as we celebrate 25 years releasing the best in underground Canadian hip hop, beginning in 1996 with Bassments of Badmen. A bunch of cool surprises are planned for the year, and the first of these is a small batch of toques (or beanies, as they’re called by non-Canadians) embroidered with the Hand’Solo logo. In honour of the 25th Anniversary, there will only be 25 in this design.
Order here:
https://handsolorecords.bandcamp.com/merch/handsolo-beanie-toque
In less than a week, Donald Trump will leave office as a one-term president, and it can’t come soon enough. “OZ”, Magick Show’s second single from their Dark Night of the Soul EP, drops on Jan 20 to celebrate, but we just can’t wait so we’re dropping the video early…
Magick Show is a rap duo out of Sudbury, ON, combining the distinct styles of working class poet Mickey O’Brien and lyrical/sonic explorer Max Moon. Their debut, Dark Night of the Soul, released in October, is an abrasive departure from their solo projects. “OZ”, the final track, takes a step outside of the horror-mystic aesthetic to focus more on the true horrors in the world. With guest Moka Only on the hook, the duo fast-forward through the years to imagine a post-apocalyptic scene where might is right, scarcity is common, and the marginalized are constantly on the brink of survival. The release of “OZ” marks the duo’s wildest and most timely release yet, dropping on January 20 to celebrate the departure of Donald Trump as U.S. president. The “OZ” video, created by Baked Clown Animation, is a bad yet thoroughly entertaining acid trip through the worst and most ridiculous elements of 2020, better known as The Worst Year Ever. ”OZ” is produced by Juno-nominated producer and Sound Battle Royale champion Fresh Kils, with scratching by turntable renegade DJ Slam!.
New lyric video and DJ Pack from Primal Winds out now…
Fighting the system is hard work and sometimes you just need a break. But how are a pair of programs supposed to do that in The Grid? Head to Argon Square, of course. So when Primal Winds need a break from the doom and gloom of their fourth album, The Renegades, which explores how the dark themes of Tron parallel our own world, District Prime and Iron Wind jump on their light cycles and hit the city to let loose for “Neon Lights”. Wind’s original production is a head-nodding throwback to inspirational 80s movie montages anchored by a soulful hook from frequent collaborator Alexa Ourania. The single also includes a mellow, introspective boom bap remix from DJ Matto while The Cybertronic Spree drummer Rumble kicks the drums and synth into overdrive to transform the song for his remix. In addition to these three catchy versions of one song, “Neon Lights” also receives the lyric video treatment thanks to Janelle Designs. …Because you deserve it, program!
Magick Show teams with Baked Clown Animation for this animated video that takes a humorous look at the previous year, featuring an assist on the hook by Moka Only. Produced by Fresh Kils, with cuts from DJ SLAM!.
Happy New Year, folks! I don’t think I’ll find many willing to argue that 2020 wasn’t a terrible shit show, but I think Hand’Solo Records released some great music from some great artist throughout the year. And now, hopefully 2021 will be a better year, especially since it’s the 25th Anniversary for the label.
The first music to drop from Hand’Solo in 2021 is the second single for Primal Winds from their current album, The Renegades. Dropping Friday, January 8, the single for “Neon Lights” also features remixes from DJ Matto and The Cybertronic Spree‘s Rumble. If Spotify happens to be your preferred method of music delivery, we would appreciate if you could pre-save “Neon Lights”…
Merry Christmas from Mickey O’Brien and Hand’Solo Records with Mickey’s new live off the floor band mix of “Don’t Be Like Them”, a song about overcoming circumstances from his debut album My Drift, out today!
Like many in 2020, Mickey O’Brien learned much about himself. His personal life in shambles due to a horrible breakup and a relapse, Mickey chose to take control and put his life back together rather than continue the downward spiral, coming out the other end stronger and more resilient than before. When a break in quarantine provided an opportunity to record a trio of songs live off the floor with a band, the third and final song selected had to be “Don’t Be Like Them”, a song about not being a victim of circumstance, from his 2019 solo debut, My Drift. Recorded live off the floor in the old Northern Breweries building, a well-weathered Sudbury landmark, by some of Nickel City’s finest players during the same session that already provided live off the floor band mixes of “Sophia” and “11:11”, the performance was also filmed and edited by Shawn Kosmo (Here Kitty Kitty Productions). Mickey O’Brien hopes his message resonates even more at this time: In the dark, choose to be the light!
Written and performed by Mickey O’Brien
Additional vocals by Sarah Craig
Produced by Fresh Kils
Nickel City’s Finest:
Vocals – Mickey O’Brien
Additional vocals & Keys – Sarah Craig
Guitar – Matt Saroka
Bass – David Cameron
Drums – Chris Dardick
Turntables – DJ Seith
Engineered By Teo DeSimone
Recorded Live at The Brewers Lofts Sudbury ON
Video directed and edited by Shawn Kosmo for Here Kitty Kitty Productions
Stream or download from your favourite site here:
And don’t forget the bundle deals that are ongoing through December, including the Mickey O’Bundle, which includes the current Hand’Solo catalogue for Mickey O’Brien…
