Wednesday night at Low End Theory was live! Every time I walk into the Airliner and enter that upper room, I’m hit with mind-bending sounds of every kind. Entire galaxies of sonic inspiration… Continue reading
“Wassup, wassup, wassup, wassup with you and meee?…” Houston-born, LA-based producer and singer Seven Davis Jr gets dancefloors everywhere moving with this vocal-house-funk jam gem. Seven Davis Jr – “One” (Official Video) … Continue reading
Sweden-via-London singer Fatima recently partnered with “soul documentarian” Flako to produce this tempo-shifting, uplifting, singalong synth beat jam. Fatima – “La Neta” (Produced by Flako) (Official Video) … Continue reading
While I’ve written about the versatile vocal talent of Kwabs before, and while his name may remind you of Tweety Bird announcing his favorite seafood in plural form, London’s Kwabena Adjepong’s latest release deserves… Continue reading
On new song “Thank God I Was Dreaming,” Liverpool outfit Outfit employ a gently clicking garage beat to back a blend of sunny indie falsetto, tropical guitar, and cloudy yet warm synth washes.… Continue reading
To be frank, Suffolk, England’s To Be Frank‘s intensely dreamlike video for “Half the Man” looks like Darren Aronofsky had a go at directing a Cadbury’s Dairy Milk commercial. The beat for the… Continue reading
So inspired to create by watching this. I can’t think of an entity that aligns more with my musical taste than the Red Bull Music Academy. The RBMA is an invitation-only series of music… Continue reading
Greek garage rock duo The Noise Figures‘ “Out of Your Mind” slightly sounds like a slightly slowed-down and slightly sleepy “Fell in Love with a Girl” by the White Stripes. My favorite tune… Continue reading
Dubbed-out, squiggly, hairstylin’ funk from Wellington, New Zealand’s answer to Mr. Scruff. Lord Echo – “Digital Haircut” (Official Video) Lord Echo‘s new album, Curiosities, is out now on Bastard… Continue reading
Both hailing from Australia with continent-sized electronic beat talent, Sydney producer Flume and Melbourne producer/crooner Chet Faker have combined their soulful musical superpowers to create this charged and melodious cut. You may remember the… Continue reading
Sparse soul from Philly electronic duo Marian Hill, reduced to its most essential elements: a bubbling, breathless horn and fingersnaps precisely on beat from a thousand bionic lobsters. Love it. Marian Hill… Continue reading
That chunky bass guitar, that soaring soulful vocal, that acoustic guitar strim-strum, that pleasing woodblockish beat from Toronto’s Slakah the Beatchild. “I Surrender” sounds like it could be an unplugged Raphael Saadiq jam. Slakah the… Continue reading
Every so often you come across a band like Aloa Input that is so astoundingly good (and, as of now, so astoundingly underheard) that you just can’t help yourself but listen to their… Continue reading
Common always sounds best over a Dilla beat. (His album Finding Forever is dedicated entirely to the late, great producer.) Yancey Boys ft Common & Dezi Paige – “Quicksand” (Official Video) … Continue reading
Alabama-born, West Chicago MC Mick Jenkins‘ laid-back yet perfectly controlled flow possesses an eery similarity to Ghostpoet‘s 3am drawl. Mick Jenkins – “The Roots” (Official Video) Download Mick Jenkins’ Trees &… Continue reading
I first got switched on to the English singer and dance producer Ben Westbeech in the spring of 2007. He’d just signed to tastemaker’s tastemaker Gilles Peterson’s Brownswood Recordings and the label was releasing… Continue reading
This isn’t the first rap video of late to greatly increase the potency of the song it portrays by being filmed entirely in black-and-white. Perhaps best known for directing Kanye West/GOOD Music’s “Mercy”… Continue reading
Raw beat heat from North Carolina producer L’Orange with Topeka, Kansas’ Stik Figa on rhyme assignment. L’Orange & Stik Figa – “Smoke Rings” (Official Video) L’Orange & Stik Figa’s collaboration… Continue reading
Dive In hail from Glastonbury (the actual town, not the festival) in the west of England. Their song “Let Go” is happily planted at the musical crossroads of indie, rock, dance, and sunny,… Continue reading
Waajeed (he of the Platinum Pied Pipers, Bling47 and a founding member of Detroit’s Slum Village), Brooklyn chanteuse Dede Reynolds and jazz-trained producer and composer Tim K first met at a bar beneath… Continue reading
My favorite parts of this new Foreign Exchange track are those piano chord drops and those stand-out Stevie Wonder-ish synth bass burbles. The Foreign Exchange – “Call It Home” (Official Video) … Continue reading
If you like Bonobo, you should definitely listen to Bristolian beatsmith Phaeleh (pronounced “fella”). Phaeleh – “Tokoi” (Official Video) Phaeleh‘s first ever North American tour begins this week. Catch… Continue reading
25-year-old, Cape Town, South Africa musician, producer, and ad jingle writer John Withers is the brainchild behind John Wizards. Featuring Rwandan singer Emmanuel Nzaramba, his recently released self-titled debut album draws from Ghanaian highlife,… Continue reading
“Six Space Shuttles and 144,000 Elephants” is quite possibly my new favorite song title. Lonnie Holley, born on February 10, 1950 in Birmingham, Alabama, is the seventh of twenty-seven children. Childhood was chaotic:… Continue reading
Fitz Ambro$e originates from Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia, Canada and currently lives in Tokyo. Here he teams up with Richmond, Virginia’s Ohbliv to produce Zen Vapors: a 14-track musical collage of beats,… Continue reading
This is that hip-hop of superlative quality produced by one of my musical heroes: 4hero’s Marc Mac. T.R.A.C. ft Yahzeed Divine – “This Is That” (Produced by Marc Mac) Get… Continue reading
Ambient atmospherics from British producer Kasket aka Charlie Baldwin. The best part is when that Cinematic Orchestra-esque beat comes in at 1min 59sec. It makes the song. Some nice Spanish guitar in there,… Continue reading
My new favorite tune from Lost Midas, the very talented beat producer and songwriter, sporting an impressive mustache and an even more impressive, next-level, Minority Report-filmed-in-Silverlake, hipster edition of Google Glass in the video… Continue reading
Jungle godfather Shy FX takes a break from the frenzy of drum ‘n’ bass and opts to expertly concoct some simmering, hazy reggae instead. Shy FX ft Liam Bailey – “Soon Come”… Continue reading
Fresh from supporting José González‘s band Junip in New York last week, East London’s suitably red-bearded James Mathé, otherwise known as Barbarossa, combines a large, simple Black Keys-ish garage rock-soul guitar riff and tussled… Continue reading
Enchanted, psychedelic, folk vibrations on this brand new Washed Out song, sounding not unlike a dialed-down, Sunday morning Tame Impala. Washed Out – “It All Feels Right” (Official Video) “It… Continue reading
This five-year-old knows how to bust a move. Jungle – “Platoon” (Official Video) “Platoon” is released via Chess Club Records on July 15. More from London’s Jungle here. … Continue reading
Future-funked acid house all day. Watch the accompanying video that resembles the 3D graph blueprints on the 4D desk of some 5D cosmic alien architect. Simian Mobile Disco & Bicep – “Sacrifice”… Continue reading
West Midlands, UK producer Stephen Wilkinson bka Bibio returns with Silver Wilkinson, a new album of his lo-fi, 70s-soaked, indie electronic soul sound. Lead single “À Tout à l’Heure” couldn’t be more organic… Continue reading
Singer-songwriter Valerie June was raised in Jackson and Humboldt, Tennessee, one hour from Memphis and two hours from Nashville, which serves as an accurate musical GPS for her blues- and country-influenced sound, aptly… Continue reading
This funky bassoon bassline is destined to heavily soundtrack my summer. Omar is the man. Omar – “The Man” (Official Video) “The Man” is taken from Omar‘s forthcoming new album,… Continue reading
Mournful, synth-strong, cosmic soul from LA’s Computer Jay. Computer Jay ft Orfeo – “Hardships” (Official Video) “Hardships” is the first single from Computer Jay’s Savage Planet Vol. 2.
This agitated, gritty heatwave loop from Eglo’s mysterious new signing, Strange U, believed to be a moniker of UK hip-hop stalwart Kashmere the Iguana Man. Although why anyone would even think about adopting… Continue reading
Perth, Australia’s Ta-ku has rapidly become one of my favorite beatmakers of this, and probably any, year. Ta-ku – “Clap for Me” (Official Video) Suff Daddy and Ta-ku’s Bricks & Mortar… Continue reading
A departure from my usual penchant for boom-bap beats and growling bass but a crackingly well-written tune nonetheless. Luke Sital-Singh – “Bottled Up Tight” Luke Sital-Singh’s Old Flint EP is out… Continue reading
This video: Best. Drunken Yoga Class. Ever. Atoms For Peace – “Ingenue” (Official Video) Amok, the new album from Thom Yorke’s other band Atoms for Peace, is out now on XL… Continue reading
That Belgian centipede funk. BRZZVLL – “Kevin” (Official Video) More delightful sounds from Antwerp’s finest live jazz collective BRZZVLL (pronounced “Brazzaville”) here.
Late night sounding right. Ivy Lab ft Frank Carter III – “Afterthought” More Ivy Lab here.
Summer come early. Chris Turner – “LiquidLOVE” Download Chris Turner‘s downright stunning soul album, LOVElife is a Challenge, for free here.
A strong return from the great intelli-dubstep hope of 2011, here looking like a trendy Stig from Top Gear in the video below. James Blake – “Retrograde” “Retrograde” is taken from… Continue reading
The video for Liverpool’s Wave Machines’ “Ill Fit” actually fits the song quite nicely, if you equate subtle, gently-sung wafts of future pop-funk with running around large buildings in London really fast while… Continue reading
This whole R&B futurism thing just keeps getting better and better. Like Prince reworking the Drive soundtrack. Autre Ne Veut – “Play By Play” http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=LFiupWwIZMY&noredirect=1 Magnetic. Butter.
Fractal factories of 1950s Americana click and whir in this kaleidoscopic dicing and splicing of Norman Rockwell’s cerebral cortex that sounds light, gentle, and benign, just as the song’s title would suggest. For… Continue reading
Sounds like Underworld‘s Karl Hyde has been listening to way too much Bon Iver. Nary a techno thump is to be found on his debut solo track, “Cut Clouds.” Karl Hyde –… Continue reading
