Written by Tosin Adeniji

Cold and wet outside, inside Cafe Oto, the venue for Andreya Triana’s album launch party, was quite the opposite. Warmly greeted by free drinks, promo CD’s and cupcakes (they were sooo yummy) the room was filled with people chatting, laughing and filling the bar. All the while waiting for the main event…

Bonobo, producer of Triana’s debut offering, provided the interlude soundtrack by spinning some soulful jams, alongside some more obscure tunes – which got everyone feeling even better.

Just before 9pm, Andreya floated onto the stage and the crowd drew nearer. Beautifully layered strings of brightly coloured origami decorations, mixed between soft spot lights from each angle surrounded her and the band. It looked  warm & intimate and not like we were in the backstreets of Dalston at all. The interior designer in me appreciated the aesthetics and the music lover appreciated her set even more so.

Not familiar with all the songs, I quickly became acquainted with them. She performed her set with no backing singers, instead opting for her loop machine and adding echos, reverbs and other sound effects to her already stand out vocals. Musically, it was inspiring to see.

Before singing her first song, Andreya graciously thanked everyone in attendance, giving a special mention to her family and friends who filled the room proudly. It was clear this was a special moment for Andreya and I for one am grateful to have been there.

Opening with ‘Darker Than Blue’, she went on to perform ‘X’ & ‘Draw the Stars’, but for me the song of the night was the albums title track ‘Lost Where I Belong’. I loved the addition of the horn section here, it gave the song and the vibe a whole new dimension. Andreya’s husky falsetto towards the end of the track was breathtakingly beautiful.

Ending the evening with the ‘A Town called Obsolete’ which was jazzed up, double timed and given an errie echo towards the end that worked so well. It was clear a lot of time and effort was put into this night and it was important to all involved. I really enjoyed myself and left admiring Andreya’s presence and humility.

Great music, great vibe and great cupcakes!

Andreya Triana’s debut album Lost Where I Belong is out now – buy it via iTunes.

London’s Hip Hop community came out in full force last night as Jay Electronica took to the capital’s stage for the second time this year. Trading the Jazz Cafe for Cargo in East London, Electronica performed how he always does – with passion, fury and energy. Peep our snaps up top and below.

Photography by Danny Wood

Written by Tosin Adeniji

California based, European loved clothing brand WeSC opened their 2nd shop in London this summer. To celebrate, they had a midsummer nights launch party in the trendy Covent Garden store, hosted and headlined by hiphop-soulful-dance artist, Joleon Davenue.

Walking through Neal Street at 7.30pm there was clearly a buzz erupting outside the colourful shop. People were drinking and chatting away like it was already the weekend waiting for the night to kick off. Press, photographers and bloggers were in their masses as well.

As the doors opened at 8pm,as many that could fit in the narrow concept store as possible, flooded in.

The night kicked off with the bubbly Shanaz, singing about a typical girls feelings for her crush at 17, among others. Shanaz ended her set with her exclusive sing along track “Pencil me in”. The song seemed apt to most peoples busy life and were whole heartedly singing in synch with her.

In the breaks people stepped outside for more summer air with plenty of free drink in hand or delved downstairs to view the rest of the shop.

To end the night, everyone or as many as physically could, packed themselves back in the store to get some of that “Mood Music” that Joleon does so well. He got the crowd dancing straight away with the Jamquioruai influenced “Love Rain.” Closing with a group of mini vuvuzelas screeching in time with his funk-dance track “Money”, the vibes were on point.

With 5 minutes to closing time, the last of the drink was drunk and the crowd, the band and Joleon jammed celebrating the successful merger of music and fashion. Let’s hope there’s many more of these parties to come.

Pics courtesy of YinnYang and check out their post for video footage.

New Zealand was well and truly in the house last night as Electric Wire Hustle took to the stage at Deviation.

The ambience EWH brought was something quite special, captured perfectly by the crowd in attendance and aesthetics of the venue. Performing tracks such as ‘Waters’,  ‘Perception’ & ‘Again’ off their debut album, they displayed their musicianship in all it’s glory; From Mara’s smooth, yet haunting vocals, Taay’s funk on keyboards and Myele’s impeccable drumming – it’s safe to say: we were all captivated. Their sound truly comes alive on a stage and I have to credit Deviation’s trademark sound system once again for capturing it so brilliantly.

These three guys, who are three of the nicest guys, have such a clear and distinct chemistry between them – it really is ‘electric’ (and believe me, such a pun is not taken lightly). Their love for music is abundantly apparent – clearly inspired by a variety of different musical genres, they bring their sound together so well that it’s almost certainly unique to them.

I could ramble on for hours as to why and how these guys are so great – but I won’t. Instead I will simply implore each and every person reading this review to, if you haven’t already, discover the world of Electric Wire Hustle. I bet you £50* you won’t find a better nu-soul-hip-hop-funk-electro album around. Trust me.

Oh and I have to biggup Joy Orbison who took to the decks just after EWH – dropping ol’ skool garage tunes like it was nothing. My goodness. I wasn’t expecting to rave that ‘aaard. We didn’t get to stay til’ the end of his set but the 45 minutes we heard – Joy Orbison = the future.

Shouts once again to Benji B, Judah, Zainab, Alice & the whole team for another great night. Deviation Part 2 with Bilal & Fatima next week at Fabric. It’s on. Enter to win tickets for that show here!

Stay tuned for something special from Electric Wire Hustle right here on PinBoard soon.

Photography courtesy of Danny Wood

“Where did she come from?” – the one singular question I kept repeating during and after Janelle Monae’s sold out concert in London last night. Cramped into the small Hoxton Bar & Grill in East London, we braved the non-air-conditioned venue and waited for our star.

The evening began with three haunting figures appearing on stage, dressed all in black, hoods concealing their faces, as ‘Suite II Overture’ introduced the beginning of Janelle’s ‘Emotion Picture’. In seconds Monae torn back her cloak and began the albums opening track ‘Dance or Die’.

Performances of ‘Locked Inside’, ‘Faster’ and the heart wrenchingly beautiful ‘Smile’  commanded our attention from the get-go. As she brought The ArchAndroid to life with her brilliant band, her true genius began to show.

Live renditions of ‘Cold War’ & ‘Tightrope’ soon followed and despite seeing various performances of her debut single on America TV shows over the past few weeks -  witnessing it live is an all together different experience – I don’t think I’ll ever bore of seeing her doing the ‘tightrope’.

I was pleased that Janelle also revisited Metropolis: Suite 1 (The Chase) during the final act of performance. As much as I love the new album and love the new songs it was actually these songs that were favourite of the night. ‘Sincerely, Jane’, ‘Violet Stars Hunting’ and an outstanding rendition of ‘Many Moons’ rounded off what can only be described as a supersonic evening.

Electric, enigmatic, theatrical, passionate, (absolute) genius are just a few words I use when attempting to describe The ArchAndroid’s live persona. It’s very rare to be able to use those types of adjectives on someone who has only just released their debut album – but Janelle really is very much the exception, there is something truly special about this woman.

The list of things one could say about what makes Monae’s live performances so special is pretty endless (the dancing, the energy, the theatrics, the story) but for me what surprises and impresses more any thing else is that she is still, at heart, an impeccable singer. While visual art and well conceived concepts are great to witness – it is Janelle’s voice that is at the core of my admiration for her. Quite simply flawless – never a note or breathe out of place. Never a struggle to reach that note. Effortless. Perfect. Completely soulful.

As I mentioned last nights gig was completely sold out. I feel it’s now time to get Miss Monae into bigger venues in London – I want to see her in the Roundhouse, or better yet, the Royal Albert Hall with a full orchestral band. Management, record label, promoters – make that happen.

Previous: PinBoard Exclusive: Janelle Monae Interview

Photography Courtesy of Danny Wood

Written by Zainab Jama

Sonar By Night.

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.

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image courtesy of Sonar

Written by Zainab Jama

Sonar By Day.

Touching down at Sonar by Day is like going to the grounds of British Museum to rave. Only it’s hotter, there’s a beach nearby and grounds have been converted into stages for live music. If you can imagine that, you’re almost there. But before I give my account of Sonar 2010, it is worth mentioning that Sonar is like no other music festival.

Based in the heart of Barcelona, it is a walking distance from the city centre, a bus ride from the beach and set in-between the museum of contemporary art and University of Barcelona grounds. With two outdoor stages, and a massive basement inside the Museum of Contemporary art, there are no tents, there is no mud, there’s only sunshine and beautiful people ready to get down.

Highlight of the Sonar by Day festivities was Lunice. Hailing from Monteral he came out battling for the crowd’s attention late on Saturday afternoon. With a laptop, mic and a stage presence like no other, Lunice came in hard, dropping a medley of bootleg RnB, Hip-Hop and Crunk remixes by the like of Beyonce, Rihanna, Brandy, Cassie, Soulja Boy and Lil’ Wayne. Leaving the records to play themselves he’d come round the front of the booth to demonstrate exactly how the crowd should get down, breaking into moves that only the most flexible could copy, he left a number of us with sore limbs as we tried to copy his showstopping moves and let me just say someone needs to book him for a London show ASAP!

Listen: Lunice – Sonar By Day Set (RedBull Music Academy)

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Written by Tosin Adeniji

Entering the Rhythm Factory just after sunset last Thursday, it was clear there was an anticipation for the long awaited Remedy Night. As old friends and twitter friends mingled and got chatting, it felt like a family was reunited. The pressure was on but as expected the Remedy team delivered and then some.

Kicking off with soulful charmer Wilson with his powerhouse vocals, he immediately captured the crowd. His Anthony Hamilton-esque sound got the mood going and his ode to his mother was nothing less than sweet. Yep, he got the ladies with that one!

Beginner in the game, Sharika Medla really held her own and is a great addition to the Remedy family. I am sure we are going to see more of her on the scene soon.

The multi talented, multi shocking, word smith Dean Atta, pushed the crowd with edgy lyrics. The cool beat of the band backing him also gave his spoken words that something extra, providing a few gasps and laughs throughout.

Paving the way for the giant that is XO Man. One of my personal favourites of the night, got everyone jumping and on their feet. His punchy lyrics and crispness of the beat made it almost feel like the middle of a festival, rather than late at night in the heart of East London.

Remedy veteran, Kaana Ellie ripped the stage and gave us that power we so love. Totally under rated in my opinion but any doubters left in the venue, she definitely won them over last night. Her performance of ‘Traffic’ live, turns most to convert straightaway.

Lastly, the man of the moment, Ed Sheeran took to the stage for the first (and possibly last time) with a live band. After years of riding solo with a loop pedal in hand, who better to take to the stage with, than The Remedies. Seeing Ed Sheeran perform before, I was apprehensive as to how he would deliver with a band. Any queries were crushed. The band added to the magic and reworked with reggae drum beats and saxophone additions, taking the well loved tracks to new heights. His heartwarming cover executed with such conviction and soul once again assured me this guy is going far and quickly. Highlight of the night was the free for all (literally) for MCs in the crowd to add their verse to a 20 minute long version of his underground hit ‘You Need Me’. The night ended in the same family vibe we began the night with, as Ed jumped off the stage, sang his last piece with no mic, no band, in the middle of the crowd.

The night was left with just the music and us.

Watch:

PinBoard Presents: Remedy Rehearsal Rooms w/ Kaana Ellie

PinBoard Presents: Remedy Rehearsal Rooms w/ Ed Sheeran

Note: Tosin (our newest contributor) wrote this review last weekend, I messed up and only just now posted it. My bad.