Last I spoke of CHLLNGR the project was called Dub Defender and it was fuxin' with Ninjasonik's “Somebody Gonna Get Pregnant”. A year later, he's doing even bigger things, like remixing M.I.A. with Ticklah.
Whilst double-fisting Budweisers at the Fader Fort I ran into wayward traveler, Steven Borth whose CHLLNGR project is always of interest to me. After chopping it up about his ever-burdgeoning stockpile of studio work, I proceeded to get shit-faced and recall very little of our talk. Something about “Dr. Echo”…err… collaboration with Spoek Mathambo… applying for residency in Copenhagen… Danish is different than Dutch?
Luckily, he was good on his word that by Monday morning my inbox would have two new CHLLNGR tracks. His M.I.A. “Steppin' Up Dub” remix with Ticklah (Antibalas, Mark Ronson & The Business INTL.) was crafted during one of his many stay overs in NYC. The remix is of the down tempo meets dub ilk, which might be the only of its kind. It could also be the number one download by serial killers, specifically those who love to bath their victims (is that a thing? or do I watch too much Dexter?), as M.I.A. rapping “rub a dub dub” sounds bone-chilling over the sleepy bass crawls. The “Rubber Ducky” song will never have the same connotation.
The second goodie that was dropped off will be on CHLLNGR's upcoming Green Owl debut entitled Haven. “May 3” is kin to the dub meets down tempo electronica, possibly CHLLNGR is honing a sound, but minus the creepy factor. Borth never mentioned the significance of the May 3 date, but a quick search yielded the following possibilities: Labatt Park has its first baseball game, Gone With The Wind wins Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, Constantine III and Pete Seeger are born (different years).
Expect the long-awaited CHLLNGR debut in 2011, which will most likely be preceded by a few remixes to tide us over.
