…has it’s advantages. The world talks to each other more in the UK night time I reckon. I found a lot more new music by kicking about until the early hours the last few nights.
Brooklyn producer ARCA is first up with his new mixtape ‘&&&&&’. Who’s that do you ask? Only only one of the Kanye West Yeezus producers. So not much eh? This 25 minutes piece is a mixture of ambient beats, enchanting loops and a horror soundtrack.
Next up, New York’s Joywave. Taken from their new (free download) 88888 mixtape, this track has been remixed by Brooklyn / NY duo Big Data. And they’ve really brought an edge to the track that the original failed to grasp. If moombahton met electro indie…
You can always rely on the Americans to bring something that sounds reminiscent of the early 00’s alt-rock scene that I adore. Sounding like Hell Is For Heroes, mixed with Smashing Pumpkins with a huge anthemic chorus, Balance And Composure. Taken from the new album ‘The Things We Think We’re Missing’ which is of course handled by Hassle Records. Who else! I’m very much looking forward to this one. Fans of Mallory Knox and Lower Than Atlantis can easily appreciate.
The words exorcism, Garth Merenghi, and LA lurch have been used to describe Clarence Clarity. Imagine Jai Paul, a walking bassline and Prince have got together in a blending. It’s sounding rad. Taken from the ‘Save Thyself’ EP which is due in September this has to be a lasting thought for the week! Thanks @PhilyTaggart for that heads up.
Something old this week coming from Polarsets. A Newcastle artist I heard a few years ago with this track ‘Just Don’t Open Your Eyes Yet’, but it’s really been brought into the 2010’s with this new mix. Rivalling the sounds of Two Door Cinema Club and Little Comets lets hope this is their time to break.
Something new…well, a lot of this stuff is brand new, but Angel Haze has the put the new for 2013 version of ‘A Tribe Called Red’ out there for people to check out. From the long awaiting debut album ‘Dirty Gold’ that will feature an even more mastered version of this track. Sounds pretty good as it is to be honest. To those not on the Team Haze she says…’tell all you haters I’m in it to win it’… So it seems your on the losing side already.
Something borrowed – tut tut Abel. Surely if you sample something this overtly and not ask the original artist someone’s going to notice. Hopefully they’ll appreciate the Portishead sample on this new The Weeknd track ‘Belong To The World’ is so damn good they’ll have to allow it. But if they don’t it’s a real shame. Tuck into the full length video or skip straight to 2min21 in where the song actually starts.
Something…ghoul…tenuous link I know, but it’s a really good band and I didn’t have anything blue to play for you this week. Cool Ghouls are bringing blusey shoegazer music straight out of San Francisco and considering it’s an epic 33 degC in my living room and the sun is shining outside, I think this fits the mood well.
Jaymes Young really is something of a stand out in the modern ambient + another genre splurge in the music scene. This is the fourth or fifth track I’ve heard by him and I’m far more excited for this artist than I am for The Neighbourhood. After hearing ‘Sweater Weather’ I thought I’d heard something incredible, but sadly the later tracks didn’t translate so well. But with Jaymes here, he keeps bringing something amazing and magical to the experience of listening to music. The LA version of f y f e who also features on this blog in earlier posts.
Now Brooklyn’s Arthur Ashin works under the name of Autre Ne Veut bringing us RnB / indie vibes with electronic beats. With the meandering bass and vocals, always slightly off tune, but never out, this track makes you listen through to it in it’s entirety at least once.
And ending this week on another gem that one of my musical heros Tom Vek has whipped up of Fun Adults music. The man who spent 5 years with ‘Leisure Seizure’ in the making. The man who made us worry that ‘We Have Sound’ may have been the last we heard of him. Luckily, he’s come back not only with his own work, but working on his other project NoThankYou AND his remixes. He may not sing like Mariah Carey nor have the swagger of Jay-Z, but Tom Vek is a mainstay in the music scene who delivers time and time again, under many guises and without losing an ounce of quality.
If you want to check out tunes like this and more from the alt. scene, remember the Alive And Amplified radio show is uploaded every Thursday 7pm to check out.
