Diggin’ This: Sau Poler – “Juun” (Official Video)
Barcelona, Spain producer Sau Poler creates dreamy, uptempo beats fused with otherworldly soul vocal blips and clips. Sau Poler – “Juun” (Official Video) “Juun”… Continue reading
Very much enjoying this crackled, mellow funk stepper from South London-via-Taiwan Henry Wu. The accompanying video below was shot around London’s Old Kent Road, the first square on the… Continue reading
Deep in the Malaysian jungle, producer Cee and multi instrumentalist-crooner Darren Ashley make organic, vine-riped, and above all, soulful electronic music as Bass Sekolah, which translates as Bass School. And… Continue reading
Hip-pop at its finest. Annie Ashcroft, Frankee Connolly, and Nadine Samuels of British girl group M.O teleport us back to the 90s with this gospel-flecked, destiny-chilled, clicks ‘n’ bubbles… Continue reading
Anyone want to go night skateboarding in London? Jamie xx ft Romy from the xx – “Loud Places” So much to love about this, most… Continue reading
I first heard about Nottingham, England’s Ady Suleiman when I came across “Longing for Your Love,” which I loved instantly and proceeded to hammer at every day party that I could because… Continue reading
The last time I wrote about Portland, Oregon-via-New Zealand lo-fi psychedelic-indie-soul outfit and band-name-you-would-probably-find-somewhere-in-an-anime-movie Unknown Mortal Orchestra was back when they covered Lindstrom’s spacey and disco-y “Rà-àkõ-st.,” which was and still is amazing in every… Continue reading
Pell is poised to blow up this year. Already tipped on Complex’s Top 25 Rappers To Know in 2014, Pigeons & Planes’ Top 10 Rappers to Know Before They Blow, and… Continue reading
Both twenty-years-old, both French-Cuban, and both twin sisters, Naomi and Lisa-Kainde Diaz are Ibeyi, the Yoruba word for “twins.” Together they make some of the best percussive, organic, heartfelt… Continue reading
Sadly, this isn’t an electronic soul cover of Kelly Clarkson, however London drum ‘n’ bass producer Stray still knows his way around a strutting hip-hop beat oozing with mood and movement. Love the… Continue reading
One part acid house, one part Screamadelica-ish indie-dance, one part messing about on an 808. Love this lo-fi, rhythmic, drum machine-happy percolator courtesy of London’s Blludd Relations on the remix for UK… Continue reading
A heavily atmospheric, esoteric hip-hop cut from The Black Opera, complete with a brooding soul beat courtesy of Tall Black Guy, that is perfect for November. The Black Opera… Continue reading
Like Howard Moon fronting Black Grape after listening to Jagwar Ma on repeat and taking fashion cues from Justin Hawkins from the Darkness. Love those pools of psyche-piano that… Continue reading
One of my favorite albums of this year, no question, is Mndsgn‘s woozy warmer Yawn Zen, released on the venerable Stones Throw label. It has an experimental, hip-hop-influenced vibe similar to Endtroducing-era DJ Shadow… Continue reading
Free art! Kool A.D. teams up with friends Toro Y Moi and Amaze 88 for a laid-back, off-the-cuff, old school rap sesh over a benign descending organ line and a Stevie… Continue reading
When they’re not hanging out in derelict seaside holiday resorts in Dubrovnik, Croatia that were abandoned during the Croatian War of Independence in 1991, Berlin friends Anton Feist and Fabian Fenk make… Continue reading
“Bengal tiger for my pet tho…” Cool Kid Chuck Inglish rolls heavy over a whirring siren synth and a snare hit with so much reverb it sounds like it… Continue reading
Love this heavy-hitting German hip-hop cut from MC Umse featuring Berlin rapper Megaloh and Deckah on the beat. No idea what any of these words mean—apart from a possible shout… Continue reading
Hold tight the clockwork glockenspiel! Love this brand new R&B-pop song strongly sung by Bewdley, England’s Becky Hill and produced by Two Inch Punch, he of the formerly mysterious BenZel duo (read… Continue reading
Why aren’t we talking more about the return of Souls of Mischief? The Oakland, CA group, famous for the ubiquitous underground hip-hop cut “93 ’til Infinity” in the early… Continue reading
New favorite genre alert: astrophysical psychedeli-tropical new wave indie-dance! New York producer Erin Rioux recently teamed up with Dartmouth theoretical physicist and Trinidad-born cosmology professor (who also happens to play a mean… Continue reading
Heartfelt Renaissance ruminations on youthful ruination from 22-year-old Nigeria-via-East London singer Vicktor Taiwò. Says Taiwò, “Before, children had time to think that the world was beautiful, and I think that should… Continue reading
Diggin’ the indie-disco-funk-pop of “Pulse” by UK duo Cash+David. Cash+David – “Pulse” (Official Video) You will also find me doing similar ballet moves in deserted and… Continue reading
“Skydive” is the sound of a summer’s day gone wrong, then right, then wrong, then right again, according to East London electronic indie-folk band Astronauts aka Dan Carney, formerly of Dark Captain and… Continue reading
Singer Amelia Meath & electronic music producer Nick Sanborn hail from Durham, North Carolina. Together they make experimental, beat-driven, indie-folk as Sylvan Esso. Their previous single, “Hey Mami,”… Continue reading
“First step is intention…” Love this new track and Cosby Show-riffin’ video from Chicago-born, LA-based rap artist Open Mike Eagle. Love, too, these squealing synth strings that open… Continue reading
“We have no time to pretend, we have no time…” New York’s Mizan does this electronic soul business right with an assortment of glowing organ chords and a strict, bouncing kick drum.… Continue reading
The subtle genius of Theo Parrish. Ever since first hearing his track “Twin Cities” on Gilles Peterson’s BBC radio show back way back when, I’ve been hooked on his hypnotic audio… Continue reading
This beat! Berlin’s Clara Hill started out by teaming up with the German DJ greats, Jazzanova, to create experimental, electronic jazz. She’s taken a turn in musical direction since then, and on… Continue reading
Good night! This is a jam right here! “Boa Noite” (“Good Evening” or “Good Night” in Portuguese) is the latest single from Brazilian rap artist Karol Conka. … Continue reading
Double video feature jam! Getting way into this lethargic, listless slow disco dancer (“Disco//Very”) and this gentle, ride cymbal-tappin’ indie incantation (“Keep it Healthy”) from L.A.’s Warpaint. Warpaint – “Disco//Very” &… 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
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
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
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
“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
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
Summer come early. Chris Turner – “LiquidLOVE” Download Chris Turner‘s downright stunning soul album, LOVElife is a Challenge, for free here.
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
Digital squeaks and indie pop splashes from Birmingham, UK’s Troumaca, pronounced truh-muh-kuh. Troumaca – “Lady Colour” (Official Video) “This is cosmic love coming from above.”