Darko The Super, Hemlock Ernst & Mr. Muthaf**kin' eXquire Producer âtƒ AKA all these fingers Compiles Beat-maker Bedrock #4 On The Heels of C.U.LATER (Bandcamp Album)
"Hello, I'm âtƒ (AKA all these fingers) and I make beats and play music. There's a lot of dudes who have influenced me as a producer, but these are probably the ones I owe the most to... in particular, these records," Michigan-based producer all these fingers wrote within a recent email. I actually believe I met âtƒ through my buddy and frequent collaborator Darko The Super—they've collaborated on a few albums, as both Darko The Super & all these fingers and Doc Fingers. âtƒ has self-released a whopping 52 albums, mixtapes, cassettes, EP's, beat tapes, and digi-singles on his personal Bandcamp page since 2011. He's collaborated with the likes of Darko The Super, Mr. Muthaf**kin' eXquire, and Future Islands frontman Sam Herring's rapping alter-ego Hemlock Ernst, as well as creating remixes for Roc Marciano, Sean Price, Beastie Boys, Nas, Raekwon, Biggie, and Slick Rick. all these fingers' latest Super Mario Kart-inspired album, c.u.later was entirely "played, programmed, mixed & mastered by ATF" using only an SP-303 Dr. Sample, Rhodes piano, Moog synthesizer, beat-making laptop, guitar, and Farfisa electronic organ. It's currently available in either Cassette + Digital Album or Digital Album (ie: Streaming + Download) formats; a limited edition of 50 numbered one-of-a-kind clear c.u.later cassette tapes (complete with "hand-drawn illustrations") are currently available for pre-order and are estimated to ship out within five days.
I. Quasimoto - The Unseen (2000)
"Madlib is probably the guy I've been most influenced by as a producer, over the years. This record has some simple and some complex beats, but they all use the samples to their fullest potential. There's no reason to go near any loop that Lib has used because they're just done, at that point. This record is dude at full powers (in my opinion.)"
II. Dr. Dre - The Chronic (1992)
"This is the album that first made me realize what a producer even was. Probably around 12 when I got this CD. It wasn't until I saw the videos with those [Parliament-Funkadelic] clips in it that I figured out that Dre was using old music in his music. I've never tried to make a G-Funk beat, but this record is pretty foundational to me."
III. GZA - Liquid Swords (1995)
"So many RZA beats I could pick as "influential," but this record has a somber kind of tone that I like. I think the sound fits the rapper best on this [Wu-Tang Clan] album. You can learn how to do a lot with very little, the style of the beats, the sample choices, the lo-fi sound... just an amazing bit of producing."
IV. Yesterday's New Quintet - Angles Without Edges (2001)
"Another Madlib joint, but he's a case where it's impossible to pick just one. This is the album that made me want to get a Rhodes piano. He's not the first Hip-Hop producer to make "live" Jazz music, but I think this record blends the two styles in a unique and seamless way. I listen to this record all the time."
V. Dr. Who Dat? AKA Jneiro Jarel - Beat Journey (2006)
"I guess most people would know this dude [Jneiro Jarel] as the guy who made the JJ DOOM record with DOOM. This is one of my favorite current producers, who does future sh*t that pushes beats forward. This album is sort of under-appreciated, too; people don't talk about it much, but it's killer front to back. It works really well as an album, too, which can be hard to pull off with beat tapes."