Off his latest Late Night EP comes this absolute rocket. You need a serious set of cans to listen to this one. A producer from Hamburg who specialises in a ‘glitch-soul/hip-hop hybrid sound with sprinklings of post-future soul created by some other planetary synths’. If man says it’s a ting…it’s a ting. After listening you will want to cop his previous beat tape Albumin which he is kindly giving away for free here. Open your ears and mind, press play and make sure you are not operating any heavy machinery.

Jacques Greene sparked our interest back in 2010 when he proposed marriage to Cassie via his ‘Must Be Love’ remix – after a string of reworks, guest mixes and odd ends, he returned earlier this year with two new singles and promise of a new EP. First dropped ‘Flatline’ a track featuring Koreless which combined Greene’s love for 2-step and Electronic music with classic R&B. Followed shortly after by ‘Arrow’ featuring Ango, a 9-minute production of lush House vibes.

Now ahead of it’s January 30th release comes a preview of Concealer, Jacques forthcoming 4-track extended player. Thankfully, it would appear there’s no let up, both previously unheard songs (‘There’ & ‘Clark’) prove themselves worthy – deep, thundering basslines and ghostly vocal samples scattered around Greene’s varied musical influences. Sexy stuff.

Pre-order Concealer here.

We introduced you to Natalie Duncan back in early December, she impressed us away with her live rendition of her song ‘Devil in Me’. Currently recording her debut album The Sky is Falling, she’s just released a 3 track EP of live recordings. The first song is the title track off her forthcoming LP , the other two are reworks of Grizzy Bear’s ‘While You Wait for the Others’ and the Rolling Stones’ ‘Gimme Shelter’. These three songs reaffirm what we already suspected – Duncan carries a lot of promise.

A young lady with a bold voice beyond her years, playing the piano like her life depends on it (see: ‘The Sky is Falling’) – her talent is abundant and clear. There’s a lot of Soul in that voice, she sings with a love for Blues-Rock too – just listen to that Stones’ cover for example (hearing some early Aretha influence in there too). Hoping the studio versions of her material carry the same dexterity – really excited to see and hear more from her in the coming months.

Sonnymoon were on a vibe way back in 2009 when they released their Golden Age debut and who could forget their sublime cover of ‘HOUSTATLANTAVEGAS’ or their estranged single ‘Gills or Wings’? They were on alien-hybrid R&B before many of the current purveyors, connecting the dots between Indie, Electronic, Rhythm & Blues and more (full Bashment flex on ‘Gills or Wings’ btw). Oh, and lets not ignore their most recent experiment.

Now returned, they unleash a brand new EP entitled simply – 2012. A 5-track listen, released via Plug Research, which starts sensationally with the Aaliyah-circa-2012 inspired – ‘Near Me’. Those super-clean, super-cool vocals that Anna Wise delivers (with those Tweet reminiscent harmonies towards the end?!), over Dane Orr’s cold-as-f*ck production makes quite the first impression.

‘Goddess’ continues in the right direction, a building number which features a more operatic and emotional performance. While the remaining three songs ‘Morning Person’, ‘Machinery’, & ‘Magician’ attach a more Electronic heavy influence.

2012 is available to buy on iTunes now. Listen in full below.

The North London singer/songwriter’s name has literally been spilling out of industry folks mouths since early last year when he opened for Adele on the European leg of her tour. Now at the start of the 2012, a record deal with Polydor Records and with an album on the way, Michael Kiwanuka has been raking in the accolades.

The end of 2011 saw the singer nominated for the prestigious Brits Critic Choice award alongside Emeli Sande and Maverick Sabre. Then the 24 year old was announced as the winner of the BBC’s Sound of 2012, beating the likes of Frank Ocean and Azealia Banks (who came in second and third respectively). In the same week he released the third of his trio of EPs, which maintains the organic vintage Soul that many have taken too. His raspy voice floats over live instrumentation effortlessly and his music files perfectly next to the Bill Withers and Otis Reddings of this world.

Listen below,  purchase the EP on iTunes and pre-order the album Home Again (artwork above) which is due for release March 26th.

The Distraction EP marks a pronounced change in Inno’s approach to music. His previous sample heavy leanings are replaced with a more compositional approach: drawing inspiration from the likes of Jaco Pastorius and Norman Connors to create layers of dense synth progressions and glittering arpeggios.

The sound on offer here is equally both retrospective and forward thinking, combining a heady blend of 80′s soul/funk nostalgia with contemporary Electronic beats. Tracks like ‘You’re the Only’ starts on a deep pad vibe with vocoder snippets before switching up on the drop with some future Funk leanings. A contrast to the space-hop of ‘Hit the Road’, which metronomes itself up to the max. 6 Very distinguishable and tasty audible treats essential for late night reflections…

The R&B rebirth continues. Up now is Phlo Finister, a Cali-based singer currently making a name for herself with her brand of contemporary-throwback R&B.

Finister’s recently released FreEP entitled Crown Gold is a 6 track project featuring known productions from the likes of Dr. Dre, Tupac & The Doors, plus two original compositions from Jay Curry. Clearly affected by the traditions of 90′s R&B and the trademarks of artists like Aaliyah, Brandy and Ashanti – she aims to produce “classic R&B” with a “avant garde” edge. Phlo does possess a clear patent voice well suited to the style of R&B she’s producing and despite some of it’s languor, the EP does offer some promising insight – most discernibly on songs like ‘Shades’ & ‘No More’.

Critical to any artists’ success though is their ability to embody the influences of their formative years whilst amalgamating them with the modern. Fail to do so and you run the risk of boring your audience, or worse – pissing them off entirely. Pretty confident her video for ‘Shades’ for instance will raise a few eyebrows – Finisher’s “I fuck with Tommy Hilfiger, simple as that” approach may not go down too well with the die-hard traditionalists. But with a pinch more distinction, tighter productions and stronger focus on “avante garde” methods – Phlo Finister should be an interesting one to watch.

Hailing from Newcastle, Shift Static validate the Electronic wizardry developed in their short time together with their new, excellently titled EP In Italics. Working as a five piece, the group skillfully bridge haunted-house ambience along with live instruments, especially on the epic ‘Sky Burial’ and high art 2-Step of ‘Five Bar Gate’. However it’s the wicce lullaby vocals Laura Smith omits – real entrancing stuff – that binds together the band’s lo-fi stadium build ups.

Shout out to Ben over at lost lost lost for this one.

Lykke Li unloads a tasty stocking filler EP titled The Lost Sessions, Vol. 1; The three-track freeload compilation is made up of demo versions of songs taken from her Wounded Rhymes LP, released earlier this year. Tracks inducted include ‘I Follow Rivers’, ‘Jerome’ & ‘Youth Knows No Pain’.

Tuck in.

Since releasing his debut beat tape Dimensional Hymns earlier this year Kwala has been gathering a loyal following amongst beat heads, thanks to his unique blend of post-dubstep rhythms, deep ambient textures and elements of found sound. FreeForm are now happy to bring you Kwala’s new project: Projectionss EP. Six tracks of thick reverb, disembodies voices and scattered percussion that defies genre classification. Consider this the warm up to Kwala’s full length LP, coming in 2012 on FreeForm Records.