Rocking multi-instrumentalist chops, a distinctive look that quickly alerts the senses to her being something special, and a tender R&B/ jazz/ pop/ folk-hybrid singer-songwriter confessional sound that's as relaxing as a sip of chamomile tea, it's really no wonder how 22-year-old, London-born newcomer Lianne La Havas has managed to fully captivate nearly any and everyone who has caught one of her live performances or somehow became aware of either one, or both, of her fantastic two 2011 EP's (freebie Live in L.A. and Lost & Found ). [...]
Nearly a year after first teasing forthcoming sophomore album Master of My Make-Believe with "Go" , Santigold has finally re-emerged with some fresh solo newness with "Big Mouth", a well-appreciated reminder of the genre-meshing carnival of fun that is the singer-songwriter's creative aesthetic. Featuring the sonically eclectic songbird launching some schoolyard chant lyrical daggers in the direction of those that "talk that shit non-stop" (a group that may or may not include Lady Gaga), "Big Mouth", jointly produced by Switch and Buraka Som Sistema , bursts alive with [...]
Judging by the consensus of the blogosphere (at least the corners we frequent), many (including us) were left letting out a head-scratch-accompanied "Who?!" at last week's news that inching ahead of Web-popular acts Frank Ocean, Azealia Banks and Skrillex to take home BBC's top Sound of 2012 honors was the comparably lesser-known Michael Kiwanuka . But in the few minutes that it took to accomplish a bit of Google-sleuthing and music-sampling, it didn't take long to figure out the "Why"'s around the whole thing. To put it simply: 24-year-old Kiwanuka, born in London to immigrant [...]
Listening to the amazing fusion of rock, soul, pop, jazz and blues of Houston four-piece The Tontons ' new 5-track EP Golden (as well as their 2009 self-titled release and 2008 debut Sea and Stars ), the one thought that will continuously echo around your brain is why this act hasn't already been on the tip of everyone's tongue as a Band You Must Hear (and Subsequently Fall In Love With). Indulge in their catalog and you'll quickly discover that the incredibly talented group [...]
To be a fan of Theophilus London , one has to be used to expecting the unexpected, the alt-rapper's stylistic randomness (his beats of choice being a varied platter that includes electro, Top 40 pop, '802s funk, indie and everything in between) and "sometimes I rhyme fast/ sometimes I sing sweet" vocal stamps nearly guaranteeing an entirely different listening experience from song to song. So the fact that he would offer, as a Xmas treat for fans, an all-sung remake of a rare Marvin Gaye holiday number shouldn't come as too much of a surprise. [...]
Yet another surprisingly non-off-putting release from the seemingly fifty-leven deep Odd Future clique, the newly unveiled "Love Song -13 offers a first taste of The Internet, a side project featuring OF producers Syd tha Kyd and Matt Martian stepping out to get their alt-soul on. Here, atop Matt's chilled, begging-for-lit-incense groove, Syd's soft, jazzy belle phrasings play out the fragile aching of a woman trying to wrap her brain around what went wrong in her current romance. "What happened to make you, to make you start to hate me?/ I once was your heart, your [...]
For fans of female-fronted R&B that veers a little bit "space-age" and alternative beat-wise, bulges with swagger and twists featherweight pipes into super-intricate vocal melodies/ arrangements, Toronto-native newcomer Rochelle Jordan is definitely one to check out, her recent mixtape release R O J O managing to effectively combine admirable elements of the respective works of Aaliyah, Ciara, Nina Sky, Amerie, Cassie, (pre-dance diva) Kelis, as well as the production aesthetic of late '902s/ early '002s-era The Neptunes, into one sweet, Y4K-soul package. "Sleep" is one of the few tracks [...]
With highlighted appearances on recent projects from Gorillaz, SBTRKT and Maximum Balloon, not to mention an ever-increasing cult-like fandom surrounding their first two albums (20072s Little Dragon , 20092s Machine Dreams ) and live shows, it's safe to say that the hype over Swedish experimental synth-pop-meets-neo-soul outfit Little Dragon is in peak form right about now, creating the perfect climate of buzz and anticipation for them to release a brand new album in, especially one that easily steals the prize in being their best so far. [...]
Ready to join the ranks of so many other platinum-coated ATL-iens with no use for those lame genre boundaries (a pack including the likes of B.o.B, Andre 3000 and Cee-Lo), Atlanta rapper/ singer/ songwriter/ producer Spree Wilson and his alt-urban-flavored brew of whatever different R&B, pop and hip hop elements tickles his fancy at the moment feels like he could be something special in due time. All throughout his new (and quite fab) mixtape The Never Ending Now , feelings boil to the surface of him being only a Bruno Mars-helmed hook or universally beloved "Hey Ya!"-lite [...]
Swedish electro-neo-soul outfit Little Dragon have seen their fanbase expand greatly over the past year thanks to their high-profile two-track guest gig on the Gorillaz' Plastic Beach album and word-of-mouth hype over their live shows fueling Johnny-come-lately appreciation for their first two releases (20072s Little Dragon and 20092s Machine Dreams ); now, amidst their biggest buzz yet as a band, curiosity is high for what's to be delivered on their forthcoming third effort, Ritual Union . Judging by [...]
Brooklyn-born multi-talent MeLo-X cooks up a super-sexy slice of soul-based hip hop with new single "Gone Baby", which finds him fusing portions of Erykah Badu's MM-approved "Gone Baby, Don't Be Long" (from the neo-soul goddess' shockingly Grammy-snubbed 2010 effort New Amerykah Part Two ) with that song's sample source (Paul McCartney/ Wings "Arrow Through This") to support his narration through a memorable post-show romp with a groupie. The rapper/ vocalist/ producer/ DJ/ photographer gives up some vivid details of he and his temporary boo's sex-capades ("Took her [...]
Atlanta-born Cody ChesnuTT made quite an impression eight years ago when he unleashed his rave-reviewed double-LP debut, the lo-fi funk/ rock/ soul/ pop homemade brew The Headphone Masterpiece , especially after one of the album's tracks, "The Seed", was re-spun by The Roots a year later, emerging as one of the hip hop band/ current late-night TV highlight's most beloved creations ever (that would be "The Seed (2.0)" ). Frustratingly though, he's since failed to really follow through on all that initial momentum, making the curious decision to cruelly tease [...]
If somehow you've never managed to come across the eccentric soul-funk-rock dynamo that is Janelle Monae , boy do we feel sorry for you that your life is so lacking. A super-heroine born out of the wedded universes of Stankonia, Broadway and whatever the hell alternate dimensions Grace Jones, Nona Hendryx and George Clinton and his P-Funk crew came from, Monae rocked music lovers in desperate need of something truly new to their core a few years back with her debut EP Metropolis Suite I of IV: The Chase [...]
A year after topping the Pop and R&B single charts with "Oh Shelia" (a tune so heavily smothered in The Purple One's "Minneapolis sound" , that, to this day, many people still mistake it for being an actual Prince ditty), six-piece Flint, Michigan outfit Ready For The World managed to hit the top of the R&B lists a second time with the release of "Love You Down" , a sophomore album slow-groover about freaking up some cougar ("It never really mattered that much to me/ That you were just too damn old for me...") that likely [...]
Radiating a neon glow even before one's pupils is set on it's vibrantly-colored video clip, Idle Warship 's "Bedroom Lites", a highlight from their new mixtape Party Robot and the first single from their forthcoming debut album, sees the undie-supergroup aligning themselves with modern music's over-obsession with everything '80's as they utilize a boxy, synth-lit electro strut to support a tale of two friends lusting after eachother in the late-night. Res and Graph Nobel breathlessly purr their way across the tense erotic throb of "Bedroom"'s Eurthymics/ Paisley Park-ian soundscape, convincing in [...]
When Sade 's sixth studio album Soldier of Love finally makes it way to release in the early weeks of next year, it's arrival will mark ten looooong years since the release of the band's last studio effort. Now, we've come to expect long hiatuses between projects when it comes to this crew (if you recall eight years flew by before they followed up the "No Ordinary Love" -housed Love Deluxe with 2000's Lovers Rock ), [...]
Denmark-born newcomer Nabiha makes a strong first impression with her debut single "Deep Sleep", a spunky ditty about (no kidding!) trying, and failing, to get some good rest. "BLAM!/ Who's knocking on my door?/ The pounding is so raw/ It's hurting my head," she growls, her vocal packing such a soulful wallop, you fear for what unfortunate fate awaits the person waiting on the other side of the door if she so chooses to answer the rap. Yeah, the lightweight topic makes for a curious choice for one's premiere to the world, but A) [...]
A lengthy touring spell. Handful of one-off concert events. The release of a couple bootlegs. A comic book. A short story. Throat surgery. A brand new blog . In the year-and-a-half since dropping his 2008 solo debut Falling Off The Lavender Bridge , UK-born dance-punk-turned-Americana-es que-indie singer/songwriter Lightspeed Champion seems to have done everything but bless the public with a proper follow-up to that near-brilliant collection. Apparently this set is already completed and awaiting the proper pieces to fall in place for it to [...]
Already dubbed by the press/ blog world as the "UK Santigold", South Africa-born/ UK-raised newcomer MPHO makes quite the introductory statement on her debut single "Box N Locks", some of which is because it's main musical hook revolves around a catchy sample of Martha & The Muffins' 1980 new wave-punk classic "Echo Beach" , but mostly because she's already on the usually second or third album topic of yearning to break free from the pigeonholing of others. Kicking things off with the admittably charming semi-sneer "Feisty little brown girl/ Raised in Brixton town girl/ [...]
It's nice to see that even when they're not blanketed in the comfort zone of their Marty McFly-era hip hop sound, those BMX and Fruity Pebbles-lovin' Cool Kids can still manage to exude...well, top-notch coolness. Here, Mikey Rocks and Chuck Inglish seamlessly immerse themselves in the 16-bit electro-funk boogie of Kenna's year-old "Loose Wires" , surrounding the singer's spooky dancefloor seduction with their own cheapskate macking ("Only got a little money in my bank account/ So I ask homegirl she could take me out") and old-school "exaggerated yawn to get your arm [...]
Mixtape Maestro
The Kills on Letterman (Video)
Download: James Blake Live Album (Unofficial)
My Funny Valentines
Lana Del Rey - Without You (Kill Paris Remix) [Dubstep]
New single from Gemini Club
