Things have been a little quiet this week, because it seems everyone who has ever made or listened to music in their life is down at SXSW in Austin, but there’s still some good stuff making its way to our ears. For example, One Little Plane, also known as folky singer-songwriter Kathryn Bint from Chicago, has released a new single called She Was Out In The Water, produced by none other than Kieran Hebden, aka Four Tet. The light, dreamy single is just a taste of what we can expect from One Little Plane’s upcoming full-length, Into The Trees, which will be released on Four Tet’s Text Records in May of this year. Also noteworthy: Radiohead’s Colin Greenwood plays bass on this track.
If you’re having trouble waiting until March 20th to hear The Shins‘ new album, Point of Morrow, I have good news. Starting today, you can stream the album in its entirety via iTunes. Thus far in listening to the album, it seems that the new release is just enough of a departure from the band’s previous work to make it accessible to a wider audience, while still staying true to The Shins’ original style and James Mercer’s unmistakable voice. Search “Point of Morrow” in the iTunes store, or head to the band’s website for a link, to stream the album now.
Here’s a little something to brighten your Monday. SBTRKT has posted a new bonus instrumental track on his Soundcloud. The song is called “Surely,” and it’s brimming with resonant organ-heavy chords and a catchy, energetic beat. According to the artwork for the single (above), this track is being released by Young Turks. Stream it right here:
Last week had a number of solid releases for beat junkies. Knxwledge dropped his Hexual Sealings Vol. 2 and Ta-Ku released his SCRAPS Vol.2 Regan ‘Ta-Ku’ Mathews is an Australian beat maker who states his influences are from the pioneering artists J Dilla, 9th Wonder, and DJ Premier. If you scrounge through our archivesyou can find an earlier post on his Dusty Instrumentals beat tape. This is one of my favorites off of the album called Kyotokyo. Reminds me of some of Teebs beats with the harp arrangement stressed as the prominent structure to the song. The entire album can be streamed off of his bandcamp page http://ta-ku.me/album/scraps-vol-2 and probably found on the internet with some good google searches.
Knxwledge dropped his Hexual Sealings vol 2 for us last night. The album has some great vocal samples from Erykah Badu, Biggie, and others. I have already expressed my love for Knxwledge on some previouspostsso check those out if this is a new artist for you. The album is all good but a couple of standout tracks arew ThnAbtYew, the biggie sample on WunMoarChance, and Trost.
The wait may be over…Jay Electronica announced via his tweeter today “Dear Believers and Patient Supporters. Thank you for your patience and support. The Album will be turned in Tomorrow evening. The wait ends.” Jay Elec goes on to say that he will write an open letter via his tumblr (http://eyeofelectronica.com/) in the next couple of days. Now…this is huge! Fans and the like can rejoice that the album is now finished and physically being turned in tomorrow. While this is all well and good, just how long will we have to wait to hear it? This is the guy that has only released a mixtape, Act 1: Eternal Sunshine (the pledge) in 2007, Style Wars EP (2007), and then compilations of his music, What the Fuck Is A Jay Electronica, and the Victory mixtape. Basically the dude has kept fans waiting 5 years now to actually release a full fledged album so there is a lot of hype surrounding this release. Needless to say, I cant help but be very very excited that the album is finally finished. I just hope that the album gets put out in the near future.
This is supposedly a track off Act II that Jay deemed not good enough to be on the album…enjoi
Five weeks ago, the Sasquatch Music Festival lineup was released to much fanfare. Like all festivals, some hated the lineup while others loved it. For the more levelheaded, it appears to be a very balanced lineup with a deep undercard. From here on out we will be underscoring the lesser-known Sasquatch artists by highlighting a different artist each week. Beyond delving into each artist’s bio, sound, etc., we will attempt to give some insight into what will make their performance at Sasquatch so amazing.
If you are a Seattle native, attend or attended the University of Washington, or have spent anytime at house parties in the University District, chances are you have seen Beat Connection play at least once in one form or another. The duo, originally made up of Jordan Koplowitz and Reed Juenger, have been DJing and performing for around three years now and built an impressive level of notoriety in the Seattle music scene. Since their days on the UW party circuit, the band has gone through quite a few changes. In 2010, Jordan and Reed released their debut, the Surf Noir EP, with the help of friends Jarred Katz and Tom Eddy, both now members of the band. The EP quickly became a hit and Beat Connection began to play at various clubs and venues around the city. Eventually the blog world took notice and the EP took off. The band, now at four members, signed with UK label Tender Age and are currently prepping an album for a 2012 release date.
While their output to this point has been fairly minimal, the Surf Noir EP was an excellent debut and sounds even better live. Beat Connection’s sound falls somewhere between Beach House and LCD Soundsystem. That’s a ridiculously wide net to throw, but the band has shown that they can carry the torch for both driving punk-addled dance music and unassuming, tropical tunes. Reid and Jordan’s DJing days shine through on tracks like “In The Water” and their remix of Cosmic Revenge’s “Memories.” You can also tell that Reid and Jordan have spent some time on the decks based on how well Surf Noir flows. As good as each individual track sounds, the EP sounds remarkably smooth and complete from start to finish. As fun as the dance-floor oriented tracks are, the majority of Surf Noir gives off a completely different mood. Tracks like “Same Damn Time” and “Theme From Yours Truly” have a youthful vulnerability about them that belies the struggles of growing up.
Coming back to their penchant for rowdy live shows, Beat Connection should excel at Sasquatch. One of the few bands in the dance tent, they will most likely get an early time slot, but based on the crowd at Capitol Hill Block Party, people will come out for the show. It’s easier said than done, but Beat Connection just make people dance. It’s exultantly unpretentious dance music and it’s nearly impossible to hold back from jumping into the mass of sweaty kids. Beat Connection will be playing in the Banana Shack over Memorial Day weekend.
Back from a long hiatus as a result of midterms, I present you with Unions album, Analogtronics. Union is a production duo of artists named OJ and Gold based in Paris. Throughout this album we see their tendency to use synths and keyboards to create very calming electro soul. For a sampler of the dynamic beats to come, check out “Blue Wave.”
The beats throughout this album reminds me of some of Dam Funk’s work with his stress on the keyboard and heavy synths. The laid back productio pairs perfectly with the dope list of featured MC’s and vocalists. Union enlisted the help of Talib Kweli, Sly Johnson, MF Doom, Moka Only, Rachel Claudio, Elzhi, Big Pooh, Janic, Roc Marciano, Guilty Simpson, and Mani Hoffman. It’s a stellar lineup to say the least. The single off the album is “Time Leak” with Talib Kweli and Sly Johnson. Kweli’s raw talent is showcased and Sly Johnson provides soulful background vocals.
It’s a new experience to hear Kweli on this type of beat and on he goes off on the track. Along with Kweli’s single, we get a new track from the legendary MF Doom as well. This is one of the better songs that Doom has released recently and deserves to be checked out by his fans. Like with Kweli on “Time Leak,” the production on “Coco Mango” matches Dooms flow and lyricism perfectly.
Another standout track is “Fallin” with Big Pooh and Janic providing vocals. It’s been awhile since I have listened to Big Pooh since the end of Little Brother in 2010. It certainly is comforting to see that the talented MC is still making music.
All in all I highly recommend this album to any hip-hop head, beat junkie, and/or Dam Funk fan. I find that this album reaches out to a broad demographic of listeners because of the solid production. Besides the solid features on the album, the eight instrumentals showcase their production talent. It’s definitely an album to discover and enjoy during the hectic frenzy of midterms.
Last month, we brought you THEESatisfaction‘s new track, “QueenS“, in anticipation of their upcoming album, awE NaturalE. The full album is set to be released on March 27th, and today, we bring you another single off the album. This one is called “Enchantruss,” and it features the duo’s trademark mellow, soul-fused overlapping vocals and slightly dissonant harmonies. The track includes a fantastic appearance by Shabazz Palaces. Both of these incredible groups will be performing at Sasquatch! in May, and you won’t want to miss either one, because they are some of the most unique and downright interesting musical artists out there right now. Listen to “Enchantruss” right here:
An intriguingly creative new take on the concept of a music video… now you can make the characters do whatever you want. Brooklyn synth-pop trio-turned-duo Chairlift has released a new video (directed by Jordan Fish and produced by m ss ng p eces) for their song “Met Before,” where the viewer can use the arrow keys to make decisions about what happens next in the video plot. After a few times through the entire video, it seems like the combinations are endless, and the video hasn’t ended the same way twice, so it’s an excellent tool if you’re trying to procrastinate away your Friday afternoon. Check out the video over at the Guardian.
The Astral Plane 