Morning! Lots going on over at PinBoard HQ at the moment, all will be revealed soon, so forgive the delay, but here is the fifth instalment of J Cole’s Any Given Sunday.
Two cuts, that didn’t quite make the album which is due in a couple of weeks, but given away for free for your listening pleasure. Listen and download below.
J Cole - ‘Neverland’
J Cole – ‘Heavy’
When a label like Ninja Tune sign up an artist, you pretty much know you are going to get a certain level of quality. And so it is with Jono McCleery, a musician who is hard to pigeonhole into one musical genre. When you first read this, you may be forgiven for thinking that an artist that doesn’t fit into predefined categories is a jack-of-all-trades and a master of none. You’d be wrong. Dead wrong! For me, the joy of listening to McCleery is taking the time out to hear the myriad of influences coming through both his vocals and instrumentation.
Many when writing about McCleery have said his sound is similar to that of Jamie Woon and James Blake, two artists I rate very much indeed. My concession to such statements is that if we are talking about the use of electronics in music making, then yes, to a degree McCleery is like these guys. However, the truth is that to group such a diverse set of artists together is sloppy and a convenient way to write about musicians who cannot easily be categorised.
This sort of ‘sloppy’ critiquing is closely linked to another of the things I find tragic at the moment, the current trend in musical ‘short hand’. We all know that there are ’nuff artists out there who don’t really seem to be saying anything, who don’t even try to bring something new to the table, or indeed, allow themselves to be themselves! What I am talking about is the fact that much of what we hear produced today is too accessible. Even what we would call ‘good’ music is very predictable, following all too familiar rhythms, patterns and structures. Yet, without making his music inaccessible, McCleery defies this fashion. To get the true joy of this adept musician, you must take time with his music. Listen with patience and let the sounds and their accompanying associations take you where they will. The complexity within each song reveal new things each time you return to them. This, for some, might be the primary ‘weakness’ of the album, many might easily dismiss it because they have not paid it the full attention it deserves. More fool them…
This is your official introduction to a new band called 14th.
Hailing from the heart of London Town, singer Tracey Duodu and producer Tom Barber are creating new vibes in the shape of their musical outfit 14th. Inspired by a wealth of varying influences their ambition is to create art unique to them. By combining the different elements that make them ‘them’, they’re able to piece together songs that avoid instant categorisation. Electronic-Pop, Avant Garde Soul, Funky Dub – who knows. What I do know though is that their new single ‘Hide Yourself’ is as aurally pleasing as it is sonically interesting.
Duodu’s haunting, quirky vocals dance perfectly around Barber’s style-clash production, I definitely love the varying structure, 2step influence and crescendo at the end, with those sped BV’s in the back.
Listen & download below. Peep more of 14th here.
It’s been some time since we last (properly) heard from Exile – thankfully that’s all about to change as come October 4th he’ll be releasing a brand new self-produced album entitled 4TRK MIND.
In the run up to it’s release the producer has dropped a new tape in association with Dirty Science & LRG Clothing – for free. Intro to the Outro features older material as well as new / unreleased collaborations with the likes of MF Doom, Blu & Bun B (to name a few). The mixtape was produced entirely (and crucially, mixed) by Exile – so you know it’s going to be rather good.
Listen & download via the Soundcloud player below. Find the tracklist after the jump…
Part 1 saw the latest MADE ‘moment’ come to life in an awe-inspiring fashion. Part 2 sees a insightful sit down interview with the chapters front woman – Erykah Badu.
The concept behind this entire project is invigorating – the (relatively simple) idea of getting three different artists to collaborate and showcase in this way is brilliant. Hearing Badu sing behind a string quartet was (is) utterly memorising – make sure you watch it if you missed it the first time round.
During their time in Paris together, Häzel & Slakah the Beatchild produced this brand new 6 track EP. Entitled This, the project features all new jams steeped in various influences – most predominately Soul & Hip Hop.
Both of these artists deliver fantastically on their own, so it’s no wonder that together they have produced something quite stellar. It would have been great to hear Häzel sing over a couple of the tracks, but instrumentally all the songs are strong enough to stand alone.
Conjointly, I have been obsessively listening to Häzel’s most recent solo offering The Playground EP – it is honestly among some of the best music I’ve heard this year. Highly recommend you check that out also.
Listen & purchase This via the bandcamp player below…
Undeniably my favourite track off of Stalley’s Lincoln Way Nights mixtape. ‘The Sound Of Silence’ is great picture-building music; music that easily builds an image for you, off of the strength of the lyrical content.
This is no doubt (probably) the reason why this video is shot crisp and clear yet with not much to visually distract you.
Lincoln Way Nights was released earlier this year (February) but has been remastered and will be set for re-release, rightfully so, on November 1 via the help of Maybach music.
Little Dragon is the type of group that has a consistency about them, where every track is a mini masterpiece that makes up a much bigger masterpiece, being the album. So it’s no surprise that the end track, ‘Seconds‘, from the Swedish band’s latest highly-praised album, Ritual Union, has been reworked into yet again another mini masterpiece.
Reworked by Syd The Kyd of OFWGKTA, this remix instantly has a bump to it that lifts it away from Little Dragon’s usual electro-soul sound, and more into a somewhat R&B flavour. Listening to this track, there is a Devante Swing-esque vibe to the production by Syd, giving it that ’90s freak.
The pace of the drum beat, the bass along with the other futuristic sounds do justice to the original version – it adds a coating of ‘swag’ that could easily allow this remix to be played at a house party of Jodeci fans and get good reception… It’s certainly something different to what I would have expected from an OFWGKTA producer.
Get excited mothertruckers… If you don’t know about the Blakroc project, slap yourself 2 time, do some pushups and get yourself a cold glass of man-up juice. The second installment from the almighty (Grammy Award winning) Black Keys sees some interesting collabos featuring Talib Kweli, U-God, Jay Electronica, OC, Curren$y, Wiz Khalifa, Jim Jones, Sean Price & The Cool Kids – alright still. Can’t wait to hear and see more of this project. Gwan Mr Dash.
This is what I’m talking about for a Friday morning. The Holy Other’s Effervescent remix of ‘Suicide Dream 2 (Orchestral Version)’ which is available on Love Letters Ink. The switch up just after the 3 minute mark is a delight. You can download this epic slice of musical pie as part of the Yours Truly EP right here
We posted this interesting take on Chaka Khan’s ‘Aint Nobody’ a while back, – personally I’m not sure I’m sold on Delilah’s voice but I do like the stripped down #soemoshswag instrumental backing her.
Lastest visual offering off the Fish Ride Bicycles longplayer. Real nice summer vibes. I’m still holding on to any glimpses of summer we have left over here in LDN.
Wooooooooi. Today is the day people. The ‘Pleasure’ EP gets it vinyl only release today and trust it’s going to be gone in a hot second. So I would suggest you head over to Phonica and pick one up immediately.
I haven’t purchased a fine slab of plastic since I stopped playing out a few years back and I miss it dearly. So much so that this was my first purchase back into the game… The addiction starts again. Hol’ tight the Natwest bank managers out there. Gonna be needing another overdraft extension, real talk. On the chopping board here: Janet Jackson’s ‘Pleasure Principle’, Keri Hilson and Lil Wayne’s ‘Turning Me On’, Aaliyah’s ‘Are You That Somebody’, Jodeci’s ‘Freakin You’ and Gucci Mane’s ‘Party Animal’. If you haven’t heard the tracks already (been dropping over the past month) peep his reworking of ’Are You That Somebody’ and ‘Freakin You’ below… Hud Mo I love thee. Hol’ tight the man crush.
2. ‘Somebody’
3. ‘Freek’
4. ‘Party Animal’
5. ‘Turn Me Off’
‘Shadower‘ emerges from an atmosphere of punchy bass notes and harmonious tones only to be splattered with pinging cow bells and soft focus hang drum notes. Its mission is unclear at first, but when the bassline kicks in and all the elements come together at once, it’s a surging, melodically complex track imbued with a rising sense of euphoria that never becomes too over-powering: well balanced and deftly arranged. Really like the visual provided by Ruairi Dunne. Enjoy
Scuba presents to us his love for deep acid house beats, techno and a little bit of bass, in the form of ‘Adrenaline’. After making a big impression on Dubstep for a minute, the British producer sidesteps pon the dancefloor for this upbeat dancey number and I definitely think this is one of Scuba’s best.
So if you see me in a dance and this drops, just know I will proably be ‘in the zone’ for the whole duration. Big tune!
Shouts to Boiler Room for the upload.
