Monte Booker - did this all on the op-1 (~valravn/mus/sotm/may2024.mp3)
Monte Booker is probably my favorite producer, period. I love going through his back catalog. This is a snippet of an older beat he made using only the OP-1, a handheld groovebox made by Teenage Engineering. He hits on this deeply textural, atmospheric blend of hiphop and dance music that I've been addicted to for years now.
Mario Camarena - throwaway tour riff, 2020 (~valravn/mus/sotm/mar2024.mp3)
Mario is currently the most inspiring guitarist to me. I think he might best represent a certain, growing wave of "new fusion" - melding together motifs of progressive rock and lofi hiphop, among other things. This piece shows off a tone somewhere between vinyl warble and Nintendo water level, with Mario's ridiculous rhythm control and signature melodic style: a sort of melancholy that somehow leaves you happy.
CHON - live Puddle solo, 2017 (~valravn/mus/sotm/feb2024.mp3)
This is one of my favorite drum solos ever. It has such an incredible feel, difficult to describe - jazzy, breakbeatish, but with an extreme metal edge; fitting perfectly within a math rock track in 5/4 time. This is an iPhone recording of the live version of the song's outro, with Nathan Camarena playing his own solo instead of Brian Evans' original. It's a feat to have written one I enjoy more.