Mickey continues to drop that heat – this time going in over KanYe West’s ‘Power’. This feels like 08, when I first started this blog this dude was releasing tracks pretty much every other day. That’s how I initially became a fan, simply because while most people would struggle with quality while releasing so much music – Factz never faulted. Quality was always on point.
Corinne Bailey Rae returns with a brand new video for ‘Closer’ which is taken off her new album The Sea. I’ve never really been a big fan of Rae’s, but I really do like her voice and actually quite like this song and video.
Ciara took to her twitter to announce the official release date for her new album Basic Instinct saying “BASIC INSTINCT ALBUM RELEASE DATE!!!! AUGUST 24!!”. The album’s first single ‘Ride’, which I’m still obsessed with, will be followed by another up-tempo number which Ciara says will make folk ‘dance the roof off’. She’s said to be revisiting the style of her debut album with the new LP – I hope this is true because then it will be fire.
Friday night saw the first instalment of Sonar by Night. Situated in an air hangar on the outskirts of town, you’re greeted by three enormous main rooms, (30,000, 10,000 and 7000 respectively) an equally large room selling food (4am crepes were a great decision), t-shirts and possibly the highlight of the festival bumper cars!
But back the music, Friday nights was the night I was most excited about. With in the main room the headliners included New York’s mighty LCD Soundsystem, playing the main room at 1am. Singing their heart out and playing tracks from their last three stunning LPs, they set the 30,000 strong crowd alight with their energetic performance.
To the left I went to check out BBC Radio 1 Mary Anne Hobbs stage. Having curated the Friday night Sonar by Night stage on Friday for the past four years, past guests have included Martyn, Gaslamp Killer, Joker, Skream, Benga and Mala. This year saw an equally impressive line up, starting off with bringing back Los Angeles biggest electronic musician Flying Lotus (he’ll be back in London this summer, check the dates here), UK Funky don Roska and Joy Orbison. First up was Joy, playing a set full new school Dubstep and 2-Step rhythms, he gave an impressive display, bowing out on his massive ‘Hyph Mngo’, it was easy to see that the tune was made for a stadium, as the scene of 10,000 strong putting their hands in the air was immense. Roska played a dancefloor set full of his own productions, with ‘I Need It’ to ‘Wonderful Day ft Jamie George’ on the playlist it translated perfectly to the Sonar Lab stage while up next Flying Lotus did what he does best. With a simple laptop and MPC he set the stage alight not only with his infectious personality with cuts from his Los Angeles series being played he also dropped a couple from his new LP Cosmogramma which had a great reception too.
Queen Badu performs New Amerykah, Part 2: Return of the Ankh‘s opening track ’20 Feet Tall’ live at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles. It’s a short, but well put together piece and it deserves a post simply because it’s Erykah Badu. Cannot wait for my annual pilgrimage to see this lady live in London this summer. ’20 Feet Tall’ has grown to be one of my favourite songs on the album – the words are so captivating.
J.Cole talks to IllRoots about his video for ‘Who Dat’ and the fact that it was shot in just one take, he also discusses his live shows and why he tries to convey emotion doing them, his upcoming album and the message he’s trying to push with it.
Sidenote: ‘Who Dat’ is getting rinsed HARD on my end – that tune is too much.
