DATE ARCHIVES : May 2020

Introducing: The Black O.C.

The Black O.C. are a hip hop trio born and raised in So Cal who live “in the black” but have their eyes wide open to the world as they smash stereotypes.

The trio have recently released a new record Legacy, Vol. 1.5; a wonderful introduction to The Black O.C. and their hip hop alchemy. This wizardry is demonstrated with abundance on tracks  ‘Legacy’ & ‘Wake Up’. ‘Legacy’ is mellow but certainly not placid. It is seductively melodic while marked by an undercurrent of threat and subversion woozy synth flutter and bass wobble over a softly swaggering groove while sharp lyrics are delivered with the sort of authority that makes you listen up. ‘Wake Up’ meanwhile, takes the aforementioned attributes and ups the ante; it is darker, heavier and harder. The deep bassline and shuffling dusty beats provide the meat for this swaggering, groove heavy jam as powerful interlaced wordplay wizardry zips along above. Two focused, no nonsense cuts of pinpoint lyrical sharpness and seductive grooves – a match made in heaven.

Listen to ‘Legacy’ & ‘Wake Up’ below – and Legacy, Vol. 1.5 is here for your aural pleasure.

Maddie Jay – ‘Shakes’

Maddie Jay is a Canadian musician, bassist, producer, writer and multi-instrumentalist with a penchant for jangle pop, experimental music and synthesizers.

Having grown up in the relative wilderness of the small mountain town of Smithers, British Columbia, Jay traded that for Los Angeles, where she now resides, and creates lush, lavish and addicting sounds in her bedroom studio. Jay continues her propensity for hypnotising pop brilliance with sublime new single ‘Shakes’. It takes its place alongside previous dream-pop gems – ‘Little Love’, ‘I Got You’ & ‘The Peanut Butter Song’ – to form the basis of her debut EP, Mood Swings. It is another brilliant bundle of dream-pop heaven as it opens with a bright, infectious riff and hazy jangle while Jay’s laid-back and breezy vocals float melodically above as a soft beat bubbles below amid rippling waves of shimmering synths. It is woozy, infectious and undeniably pure pop perfection – just what we’ve come to expect from Maddie Jay.

Listen to ‘Shakes’ below – the Mood Swings EP is here too.

 

LØE – ‘People Have The Power’

LØE are a UK based alternative-rock outfit who’s raison d’etre is weaving speech and music to create a reflection of our times, and to capture and reflect triumph, heroism, anguish and struggle throughout society.

On their debut single ‘People Have The Power’ they marshal all their might to craft an artful and powerfully evocative mix of post-rock, post-punk and krautrock, with a hint of instrumental hip hop and electronica. It is an epic and electrifying powerhouse that opens with a relative whisper as John Lennon speech flutters through a cinematic air, twinkly synth and glistening guitars line before exploding into a riff fueled frenzy – riffs roar, guitars crunch and drums bang as it ebbs and flows with power and a deft touch of elegance. It is a stunning jam that captivates from the first note to the rousing and explosive concluding climax of thundering drums and serrated, buzzsaw riffs. A mighty, riotous and epic debut – an absolute must listen.

Check out ‘People Have The Power’ below:

Martha Ffion Announces New Album; shares ‘After the Fact’

Glasgow-based Irish singer-songwriter Martha Ffion (aka Claire McKay) has returned with a wonderful new single ‘After the Fact’.

Working with the excellent Lost Map Records again, ‘After the Fact’ is the first taste of from her forthcoming much-anticipated second album Nights to Forget, which will be released on August 14, 2020.

Ffion’s 2018 debut LP Sunday Best is a beautiful record, filled with gleaming guitar-pop, wistful-ballads, swooning sixties inspired indie-pop and touches of folk & country, and being as it was one the finest records of that year, the expectancy levels for its follow-up are set rather high. New single ‘After the Fact’ is magnificent; it is a glorious ray of gleaming indie-pop with an underbelly of melancholy and disquiet. A fractured pop song, Ffion’s honeyed lilting vocal is juxtaposed by the stuttering groove interspersed with angular riffs and stabs of off-kilter guitar, and the results are a glorious. This captures all that is greatest about Martha Ffion’s work in just three-and-a-half-minutes – a marvelous songwriting wrapped with bittersweet indie-pop.

Check out the new single below – and keep the eyes peeled for the new record coming in August:


Jouska – ‘Born In Cash’

Oslo-based musical duo Jouska – comprised of Marit Othilie Thorvik and Hans Olav Settem – have impressed at every given opportunity with an intriguing and inventive array of tunes as they explore some of the more outer realms of electronica.

The pair are back with a new single ‘Born In Cash’ – the second lifted from their so far unnamed album following the slinky R&B of ‘Bring You Back’ in February – in which they continue to reside and thrive in leftfield climes. That being said, ‘Born In Cash’ has more of club focus than some of its predecessors; big beats bang and bass rumbles beneath as sea of slowburning synths and dark atmospheric swirls, and all peppered with cascading cracking and frazzled electronics. It is a song built on push and pull torn between two stools as evidence by the twin vocal path; one lush and dreamy and the defiant and confrontational. It is an absolute banging club track, albeit dark and somewhat introverted but that is what we’ve come to expect from Jouska; unconventional exceptionalism.

Listen to ‘Born In Cash’ below:

Clockwork – ‘Evergreen Weather’

Clockwork is an emerging hip hop artist from Britain’s south coast; heavily influenced by 90’s US hip hop & U.K. grime scene, his sound is a blend of slick and intricate lyricism and melodic maneuvers.

This predication for 90s hip hop and melodic sensibility is front and centre on his newest single ‘Evergreen Weather’. A third single of 2020, it saunters along a seductive melodic groove basking in a laidback and sunkissed allure. It sees a mellow flow and trickling rhymes paired above warm twinkly chimes and pillowy soft beats amid a feelgood summertime vibe. ‘Evergreen Weather’ is an absolute joy as we’re treated this mellow meander down memory lane as Clockwork’s storytelling skills ooze with heartwarming and warm nostalgia, and all wrapped in warm, sunny and lush vibes – beautiful stuff.

Listen to ‘Evergreen Weather’ below:


Lauran Hibberd – ‘Old Nudes’

Lauran Hibberd has fast become a reliable go-to name for irresistible blasts of fuzz-filled indie pop with her satiric, tongue-in-cheek approach is wrapped with fuzz, crunchy guitars and anthemic tendencies

The hotly tipped Isle of Wight native has returned a with playful new single ‘Old Nudes’, which has a strong case for being Hibberd’s most infectious to date. With punchy riffs, crunchy guitars, swaggering grooves and dripping with melody, it radiates all that hooky and sarcastic brilliance that we all know and love. Even taking a cursory glance at Hibberd’s existing work and it is easy to see why she’s built a rep for super catchy and fuzz-filled guitar-pop heroics. It has been solid gold tune after solid gold tune, and ‘Old Nudes’ is as good as any of them. 

Listen to ‘Old Nudes’ below:

El Levtchenko – ‘Sunday Social’

El Levtchenko are a Brazilian / Portuguese pairing who’s sonic compositions borrow from a world of influences; there’s Cuban guitar music, a touch of hip hop, some Middle Eastern and African influences, funk and soul, and a whole lot of beautiful psychedelia.

In just under three minutes their latest offering  ‘Sunday Social’ encapsulates everything that is utterly wonderful about about El Levtchenko and their sound. ‘Sunday Social’ is a colourful confection of sunny and alluring Latin flavoured psych. It slinks and swaggers along a super seductive groove and soft, brushed hip hop style beats as basslines bubble and guitars twang, pick and riff amid the sunkissed shimmer. ‘Sunday Social’ whisks you away to a vibrant and colourful world of sun, sea and peaceful vibes. It is a masterclass in psychedelia fusion, and one that will no doubt leave an indelible mark on your soul.

Listen to ‘Sunday Social’ below:

Winter – ‘Endless Space (Between You & I)’

Winter is LA by way of Brazil artist Samira Winter, who’s love for guitar music and nostalgic imagery inspires gorgeous dreamy cuts of pop perfection.

To date, Winter has delivered an abundance of woozy, glimmering and wistful dream-pop songs – as evidenced by 2018 album Ethereality– and with new album Endless Space (Between You & I), due on May 15, we’ve been afforded a second glimpse from the LP, with the title track.
It opens with Winter’s light, inviting vocals floating amid a lush, woozy and dreamy world before being cast into a shifting series of settings, with stunning results. Guitars shimmer and synths twinkle while sumptuous melodies undulate gently below and hazy blanket of reverb and fuzz, as it slowly cranks up the intensity. A bassline bubbles, fuzz swells and guitars begin to crunch but before it explodes, it plateaus, awash with slumbering tones. Once again we’re treated to a perfect balance between pop and the psychedelic.

Listen to ‘Endless Space (Between You & I)’ below and keep an eye out for the album on May 15.