Plug Research just dropped Danish vanguard Alt-Soul collective Boom Clap Bachelors latest EP Mellem Dine Læber, three years after their last quirky, brilliant album.
Comprised of Robin Hannibal of Quadron, Ronnie Vindahl, Thomas Bisballe, and David Cytryn; with additional vocal contributions from Coco O of Quadron and Liv Lykke. The group was formed due to their common “love of hip hop, soul and funk,” meeting once a week to share everyone’s music, while helping each other with pointers. The casual meetings amongst friends evolved into the loose league now known as Boom Clap Bachelors, showing their various influences from the likes of D’Angelo, J Dilla, SA-RA, Erykah Badu, as well as 70s and 80s Danish music.
Previewing this now, and my garrrd as expected – detailed instrumentation, romantic strings, exotic rhythms with electro-underbellies, soft, aerial vocal arrangements and European kink – just their own, enchanting sound.
You wanna float? Something about Coco’s voice always makes me want to fall in love. Press play below. You may have very few experiences that feel like this today. Highly recommended purchase on iTunes. Check out their back catalogue also.
Oh, we’ll be ready to greet Robin Hannibal & Coco in May when they perform as their acclaimed duo Quadron for a debut London show, click here for our info on that.
Having released two rather progressive albums (08′s fantastic The Oscillations: Sine & her ’09 follow up The Oscillations: Triangle), she decided to take a break – at one point, even announcing a name change (which seemingly didn’t stick?). But now, as if out of nowhere, she is back – this time with a brand new EP entitled Gone.
“After months of living, writing, and recording, I’ve just bounced a master of my new musical effort. I’m so glad to share my experiences with you all. This EP, which I call “Gone”, speaks from a place of emotional vulnerability. I’m happy to know that it’s helped me through my own personal changes and can help those of you dealing with a troubling time. Either way. It’s coming really soon. Thanks for sticking with me”.
Sample the EP up top, then click the link in the player above to purchase the full project.
It’s a monumental moment for any artist to make their debut on the legendary Jools Holland show – but when said artist is just 20 years old and is yet to release his debut album – this is especially true.
Last night, Ed Sheeran did just that. Mass introductions don’t get any better than this. Performing a beautiful rendition of ‘Wayfaring Stranger’ (a track he thanks Jamie Woon for introducing him to) Ed did what he always does – performs.
It is truly remarkable to see how far this young man has come – I can’t think of a more deserving artist. Sheeran has carved a career for himself the good ol’ fashion way – gigging at every opportunity and earning a fan base along the way. Now, signed to Atlantic Records he is currently recording his debut album.
Are two post adolescent teens from the depths of South London really going to be the motive to bring twenty-something year old’s back to the dancefloor? Looks like it.
Brotherly duo, Guy and Howard Lawrence, known as Disclosure have fluttered among our Indie/Pop blogger counterparts gaining favour in their respective realms with previous tracks. But now with this post 2-step, pre-dance vocal, reworked garage number – or shall we just simply term it ‘dance’ music – my ears have taken note, as will the alt-community, I imagine.
It has all the good ingredients of yesteryear. Soulfully looped female vocals, irregular snare patterns, quick paced pads and that skank out, screwface build up of – naturally.
Canada. Seriously. What is in the water over there?
This 5 track mini album from Toronto based producer, Sunclef is his official inaugural into the beatsmith forum. Having released a few earlier tracks sometime last year, it is good to finally hear a collection of Sunclef’s sounds.
This is good, real good. Elements of atomspheric hip hop nodding beats are found via ‘Catch a Drift’ and traces of Spanish/Latino guitar strings welcome in the ‘Samolero’. Or if you’re looking for something to elevate your soul a few notches within 3 minutes of energetic claps and crashes, then ‘Droski’ is your jam.
Sunclef produces a lil’ added value on each track, separating ’The Tesseract’ (if only slightly) from another quintuplet of electro, hip-soul instrumental hybrids floating around in the blogosphere.
After years of near-silence, the Jill Scott updates have been coming in thick and fast over the past few weeks. You won’t find me complaining. And despite not 100% loving her first single featuring Eve (and if I’m being fully honest, her second too featuring Anthony Hamilton) – I am still very much looking forward to the new long player. I mean, it’s Jilly!
Scott’s new album The Light of the Sun is due out June 28th – up top you can peep it’s official artwork and below, it’s tracklist. Alongside collaborations with Eve and Anthony Hamilton, Jilly from Philly has teamed up with Doug E. Fresh and (surprisingly?) Paul Wall on this, her fourth full length LP. Not entirely sure what to make of the latter collaboration, but S-Man reminds me to keep an open mind. I will.
1. “Blessed”
2. “So in Love” feat. Anthony Hamilton
3. “Shame” feat. Eve and The A Group
4. “All Cried Out Redux” feat. Doug E. Fresh
5. “Le BOOM Vent Suite”
6. “So Gone (What My Mind Says)” feat. Paul Wall
7. “Hear My Call”
8. “Some Other Time”
9. “Making You Wait”
10. “Until Then (I Imagine)”
11. “Missing You”
12. “When I Wake Up”
13. “Womanifesto”
14. “Rolling Hills”
15. “The Light of the Sun”
16. “Love Soul Bounce” (Bonus)
17. “Quick” (Bonus)
18. “I Love You” (Bonus)
… Truthfully speaking, I do hope Scott brings something a little different this time round. My main ‘issue’ with the first two leaks were that, in my opinion, they lacked progression. Don’t get me wrong – Jill could sing the phone book and I’d be happy, but four albums in – I do feel it’s time she expressed a sonic evolution. While the Erykah’s, Bilal’s and D’Angelo’s of this world have all flexed their creative apperceptions – I’m yet to fully feel that from Scott. Some may say that this is a good thing (folks who continue to cling to their Baduizm head wraps, still find Badu’s later works alien and confusing), but for me this is an essential step for any artist – especially one as important and special as Jill Scott.
Experimental/Downtempo Soul musician Bilal Salaam should have been more exposed than he is.
First heard one of this Washington natives jawns back in ’07 and he’s released an all too intermittent stream of stuff since – albeit some abstract, ear-swirling work. Did he miss the Electro-Soul boat that was expected to ride the high seas three or four years ago? Maybe…
But now he’s definitely moved forward to the beat of his own metronome, returning unscathed with this fascinating take on Brazilian educator and theorist Paulo Freire’s book Pedagogy of the Oppressed, available here as a 7 track project.
View, listen, read above. Underneath the prose & polyrhythms, you can tell there lies a rather esoteric mind.
