Gift ideas for tape junkies 3 Items

The Bless compilation series is our annual fundraiser to gather artists and beat makers together to raise money for the global community. Bless Volume 2 is a collection of 99 tracks from artists representing 25 different countries, the full album spans nearly 4 hours of incredible music! This year we wanted to do something special and curated a selection of tracks from the full album for this Limited Edition Double LP release.

100% of the proceeds from the sale ofBless Volume 2 will be donated to a variety of Micro Loan programs for Women, Sustainable Water and Agriculture projects, Refugees, Education, Health Care and the Arts. The funds from the Micro Loans are paid back over time and it’s our promise to the supporters of this album that we will perpetually reinvest those funds back into future Micro Loans. This way the funds can continue to support people who need it for many years ahead.

Few things induce tunnel-vision like human loss. Revelries - Isak Gaines’ debut pair of releases with Inner Ocean - explores the tunnel from entrance to exit through the lens of a relationship that was doomed to fail from the onset. Airy vocal melodies draped over jagged sample collages, loose textural washes, and intricately layered drum programming lead the way through the selfish, confused entryway of Pt. I to an exit in Pt. II that is both more reflective and outward-looking.

Part-producer, part-improviser, part-composer, and part-visual artist, Isak Gaines has a creative identity that isn’t easily categorized. Between densely-layered sample manipulations, intricate chamber arrangements, and multi-instrumental improvisations, his work focuses on experimentation in search of the point where they all intersect.

To celebrate "Full Cycle"'s 10th anniversary I've decided to share some of the many beats I did at the time I was working on it.

It was such an important moment to me as I was living in Berlin half a year for my art studies. I've never produced that much, probably made 5 beats a day for 6 months.

"Full Cycle" is also the album that helped me to reach Japanese audience thanks to Shing02 who featured on 2 tracks. I contacted FK, as I was a huge fan of his track 'Shades of Nostalgia". He eventually connected me to Takumi Koizumi (ex-Nujabes' manager) who releases my music since then.

Today I've carefully selected some of my favorite joints from that period. Some of them were really close to be part of the LP, some others I've totally forgot but re-discovered when I realized how fast time flies.

I hope you'll enjoy this batch of instrumentals. Get ready for (really) new music in the next months !

Thank you for your continuous support and let me know which track is your favorite.

-Lex (de Kalhex)