In a year so far tame and occasionally disappointing with decent new releases, James Blake's "Overgrown" is set to be the crowning glory of music in early 2013. "Retrograde" was an instant classic, the sound of Blake's confidence as a singer and songwriter finally shining as bright as his innovation in electronica, and now his collaboration with Brian Eno, "Digital Lion", also from "Overgrown", emerges just as triumphant and impressive as "Retrograde" was.
Eno can be heard in the shimmering, warm, 70s-flecked pads, but Blake's voice steals the show as it breaks through the fuzzy atmosphere like a ray of sunshine, rather than hiding his gorgeous jazzy croon beneath it. However, once the sub-shattering bass kicks in, and windy percussion begins to eat up the track, you know this is no mere vocal spot. Blake may be more confident in his tunefulness this time around, but he hasn't forgot how to make a dirty noise either.
FOR FANS OF: Boards of Canada, Four Tet, XXYYXX
Wednesday, 13 March 2013
Monday, 11 March 2013
Toddla T Sound - Worst Enemy
Toddla T Sound, as you might expect, is DJ Toddla T himself, joined by R&B and UK garage royalty Shola Ama, UK hip hop artist/producer Serocee and MC DRS. Their debut track, "Worst Enemy", is breathlessly sexy, and it showcases a superb, slick merging of talents. Shola Ama's vocal has matured since her garage days and her previously R&B-honed syrupy chirpings are replaced with an aching, whispery tone, constrasting DRS' dark and heavily processed MC verses, and the boys manage to create something approaching a post-R&B track, with hints of UK urban and Trap. Altogether it sounds like the beginning of something quite brilliant.
FOR FANS OF: Roses Gabor, Jhene Aiko, The Weeknd
FOR FANS OF: Roses Gabor, Jhene Aiko, The Weeknd
Classixx - Borderline (feat. Kisses' Jesse Kivel)
A little bit nu disco, a little bit chillwave and a little bit house, the sunkissed, blissed out electronic music that Classixx have been making for years has managed to skip all the genre trends it could've fallen into, and it's for that reason everything they do sounds timeless. Their glorious remix of Phoenix's "Lizstomania" in 2009 is as stunning as it ever was today, and their original material, fairly scarce until the announcement of their debut album, is looking to be as long-life as their modern-day-classic remixes.
The new wave synth chords of "Borderline" pulse along purposefully through a typically gorgeous, balearic chord sequence, and the melt-in-your-mouth vocals of Jesse Kivel from the similarly sunny synthpop band Kisses float thoughtfully up into falsetto. It could indeed, by all means, burst into a huge dance anthem at any point, but it doesn't. The percussion never rises above a sparse kick drum pattern, some tastefully placed clicks and the occasionally tom drum roll, that hints at a beat that never kicks in. On first listen this baffles, but on subsequent listens, the perpetual build-up is actually comforting and rather beautiful.
Their long-awaited debut album, "Hanging Gardens", is due May 14th.
FOR FANS OF: Krystal Klear, Cut Copy, Toro Y Moi
The new wave synth chords of "Borderline" pulse along purposefully through a typically gorgeous, balearic chord sequence, and the melt-in-your-mouth vocals of Jesse Kivel from the similarly sunny synthpop band Kisses float thoughtfully up into falsetto. It could indeed, by all means, burst into a huge dance anthem at any point, but it doesn't. The percussion never rises above a sparse kick drum pattern, some tastefully placed clicks and the occasionally tom drum roll, that hints at a beat that never kicks in. On first listen this baffles, but on subsequent listens, the perpetual build-up is actually comforting and rather beautiful.
Their long-awaited debut album, "Hanging Gardens", is due May 14th.
FOR FANS OF: Krystal Klear, Cut Copy, Toro Y Moi
Azealia Banks - Yung Rapunxel.
"Yung Rapunxel" feels like Azealia Banks' true second single, her first real showstopper since she first dropped "212" about a year and a half ago. It is miles less commercial than that track, but it is also miles more ambitious, and although it's taken 18 months, it makes sense to have taken that long, given the massive controversy that she has largely put herself through. Because "Yung Rapunxel" wouldn't exist without it.
It's worth remembering that "212" stopped the underground in its tracks because it was a crossover record that didn't sound like a crossover; it was already a great dance track thanks to Lazy Jay who produced it, but Azealia Banks turned it from that, into what simply was an Azealia Banks track. Sure the notorious and frequent use of the c-word probably helped hype it up, but what was really exciting was her sheer disregard for genre. She knew what beats she liked, and she knew how to spit over them. A rapper - yes; a hip hop artist - not really.
But whilst it was hard to categorize "212", it seemed totally unnecessary. It was a total mindblowing rave track, who wanted to ask questions? Through 2012, we saw Azealia Banks lean more towards certain genres, on her House-heavy "1991" EP and then regress a bit more into Hip Hop on her impressive "Fantasea" mixtape.
But there was no denying she had placed the bar impossibly high for herself after the sheer effortlessness of her performance on "212". How many of us were quick to wonder who actually produced "212"? Not many. Yet how many of us were instantly aware of her collaborations with Diplo and Munchi? Her good taste in beats were beginning to overshadow her talent, simply because we were all expected a crazy flow on par with her breakthrough hit.
Well now we've got it. She hyped it up, boy did she hype it up, but now we see why. First off, she's chosen low profile producer Lil Internet to provide the beat, which is a vicious variant on his own "Rhinoceropolis Anthem". Hints of old school Prodigy and 90s hardcore rave (no housey pianos here), led by a Tyrannosaurs Rex stomp of a heavily distorted kick drum, as distant screams, thunderclaps and Araabmusik-esque euro-trance leads scuttle round. It's a mindfuck of a listen, and a totally perfect choice for the category-evading Banks.
But above all this, we finally have that epic follow-up performance from Azealia herself that we've been waiting for for 18 months. When a voice warns "Danger!" at the beginning of the track, it sets the tone quite accurately. On "212" she was playful, self-assured, cocky; on "Yung Rapunxel" the 18 months of hype, drama, endless "beef" have clearly turned into a more aggressive player in the game. In a way that was first hinted with her hastily-brought-out but delicious Angel-Haze response "No Problems", "Yung Rapunxel" showcases a genuinely threatening tone to Banks' verses.
Whilst she previously taunted "you do like to slumber don't you... I'ma ruin you c**t", she now seethes "Bitch nigga, you could get bent, remov-ed and spent" and "I'ma rip your n***as head off", not to mention the utterly arresting climax, where Azealia screams "What the fuck? Dare you ta, dare you ta! Brrrrp-brrrp-brrp-brrp!" Sure, she yelled a bit on "212", but here she genuinely sounds unhinged, and dare-I-say dangerous.
And maybe she is. She seems to repel high profile artists and producers left, right and center, seemingly on purpose, and maybe that's the point. The underground is where she feels most at home, and if you have any form of ego or sell-out tendency, beware, because Ms Banks will come for you. So you could say it's a blessing that the mainstream won't touch her right now. Many artists have tried to do it over the years, but maybe Azealia Banks really is the one who's going to represent the underground in a chart-music-blinded world. She certainly seems to have no desire to sell-out any time soon, and with a fanbase growing by the second, who says she needs to?
FOR FANS OF: Who the hell cares?
It's worth remembering that "212" stopped the underground in its tracks because it was a crossover record that didn't sound like a crossover; it was already a great dance track thanks to Lazy Jay who produced it, but Azealia Banks turned it from that, into what simply was an Azealia Banks track. Sure the notorious and frequent use of the c-word probably helped hype it up, but what was really exciting was her sheer disregard for genre. She knew what beats she liked, and she knew how to spit over them. A rapper - yes; a hip hop artist - not really.
But whilst it was hard to categorize "212", it seemed totally unnecessary. It was a total mindblowing rave track, who wanted to ask questions? Through 2012, we saw Azealia Banks lean more towards certain genres, on her House-heavy "1991" EP and then regress a bit more into Hip Hop on her impressive "Fantasea" mixtape.
But there was no denying she had placed the bar impossibly high for herself after the sheer effortlessness of her performance on "212". How many of us were quick to wonder who actually produced "212"? Not many. Yet how many of us were instantly aware of her collaborations with Diplo and Munchi? Her good taste in beats were beginning to overshadow her talent, simply because we were all expected a crazy flow on par with her breakthrough hit.
Well now we've got it. She hyped it up, boy did she hype it up, but now we see why. First off, she's chosen low profile producer Lil Internet to provide the beat, which is a vicious variant on his own "Rhinoceropolis Anthem". Hints of old school Prodigy and 90s hardcore rave (no housey pianos here), led by a Tyrannosaurs Rex stomp of a heavily distorted kick drum, as distant screams, thunderclaps and Araabmusik-esque euro-trance leads scuttle round. It's a mindfuck of a listen, and a totally perfect choice for the category-evading Banks.
But above all this, we finally have that epic follow-up performance from Azealia herself that we've been waiting for for 18 months. When a voice warns "Danger!" at the beginning of the track, it sets the tone quite accurately. On "212" she was playful, self-assured, cocky; on "Yung Rapunxel" the 18 months of hype, drama, endless "beef" have clearly turned into a more aggressive player in the game. In a way that was first hinted with her hastily-brought-out but delicious Angel-Haze response "No Problems", "Yung Rapunxel" showcases a genuinely threatening tone to Banks' verses.
Whilst she previously taunted "you do like to slumber don't you... I'ma ruin you c**t", she now seethes "Bitch nigga, you could get bent, remov-ed and spent" and "I'ma rip your n***as head off", not to mention the utterly arresting climax, where Azealia screams "What the fuck? Dare you ta, dare you ta! Brrrrp-brrrp-brrp-brrp!" Sure, she yelled a bit on "212", but here she genuinely sounds unhinged, and dare-I-say dangerous.
And maybe she is. She seems to repel high profile artists and producers left, right and center, seemingly on purpose, and maybe that's the point. The underground is where she feels most at home, and if you have any form of ego or sell-out tendency, beware, because Ms Banks will come for you. So you could say it's a blessing that the mainstream won't touch her right now. Many artists have tried to do it over the years, but maybe Azealia Banks really is the one who's going to represent the underground in a chart-music-blinded world. She certainly seems to have no desire to sell-out any time soon, and with a fanbase growing by the second, who says she needs to?
FOR FANS OF: Who the hell cares?
Friday, 8 March 2013
Party Tracks of the Week!
SpectraSoul - Away With Me (Feat. Tamara Blessa) (Kito Remix)
#Electro #Dubstep
Jakwob - Detox
#Trap #Dubstep
Branching out from ravey dubstep for a hot minute (or 3), Jakwob brings us a glorious, celebratory trap track, with a huge vocal sample and even huger beat.
Rustie - Slasherr
#Trap #Dubstep
Never one to disappoint, Rustie gives us his first taster of new material since his incredible "Glass Swords" album. Always one to surprise with his mixes, an alarmingly loud kick thuds menacingly through a pulsating razor sharp wall of brass synths.
Thursday, 7 March 2013
SZA - Ice.Moon
Dark, eerie and seductive was the order of the day in 2011/2012 R&B, with many artists following in The Weeknd's and Drake's footsteps. Now finally it looks like the girls are taking over, and SZA has the potential to become a frontrunner. On new track "Ice.Moon", SZA's gentle, silky tones float over a thick bass drone and menacing trap beat, and on the mesmerizing chorus she borrows the "go, go, go" refrain from Delilah's "Go" and laces the sexual tension with an air of genuine menace, ending on the sneering "go to church if your scared". Equally suggestive and threatening, just like it should be.
FOR FANS OF: Delilah, Aaliyah, Lana Del Rey
FOR FANS OF: Delilah, Aaliyah, Lana Del Rey
Friday, 1 March 2013
Party Tracks of the Week!
Alison Valentine - Peanut Butter (Moon Boots Remix)
#NuDisco #Dance #FREEDOWNLOAD
#NuDisco #Dance #FREEDOWNLOAD
An absolutely joyous synthpop/piano house hybrid from the ever reliable Moon Boots, as Alison Valentine's dreamy voice floats around the soundscape.
Savage Skulls & Douster - TRT
#Garage #Bass #House
Hints of 90s rave give way to a thunderous bassline. Savage Skulls' "Bass Kick" EP is a massive testament to modern garage and bass, and "TRT" is its old school heart.
DJ Snake - Bird Machine (feat. Alesia)
#Trap #HipHop #FREEDOWNLOAD
First heard on Flosstradamus' Banned 2 Mixtape, "Bird Machine" is hands down one of the most bizarre tracks to come out of the Trap craze, with one of the most surprising drops ever, a menacing kick chasing after eerie chopped up bird tweets, quite literally. Yet this is, somehow, ridiculously addictive.
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