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earworms, #?

Hi, guys! This time, I am hopefully back for real and won’t disappoint, vanishing into thin air any time soon (well, I can’t really promise, I’m sorry). It’s a weird and eclectic list this week, but we definitely have some quite good music.

1. The Streets - Boys Will Be Boys ft. Jaykae

Mike Skinner is back at it again, teaming up with Jaykae. Boys will be boys, charming as hell and well aware of how to cook up a banger.

Boys Will Be Boys

2. Wretch 32 - Affi Me ft. SOS, Culan, Masicka/33 Style

Two brand new entries from Wretch. “Affi Me” is a classic, careless afrobeat party tune, while “33 Style” offers Wretch’s perspective on serious life matters after the age of 33.

Affi Me 33 Style

3. Redinho - Mmm Mmm ft. Vula

This one draws inspiration from the popular recently classic 90′s r&b wave. “Mmm Mmm” reminds us a lot of Aaliyah and Timbaland at his best, and it’s just superb. Redinho himslef is a producer who has worked with the likes of Nao (who co-wrote the song and layered the first take of the vocals for it in 2015), Kimbra, Bonzai, Hudson Mohawke and the Sweat Shop Boys. Featured here is the magnificent Vula of Basement Jaxx and the word is, soon we’re getting another new track with Kimbra onboard.

Mmm Mmm

4. Poppy Ajudha - She Is the Sum

We can no doubt put Ajudha among those young, talented and classy British female singer/songwriters who have opted for the thorny road of jazz/soul influensed music, instead of the glossy, neon pop. “She Is the Sum” reflects on women’s strenghts and qualities, very much in line with the topics throughout Poppy’s new EP “FEMME”.

She Is the Sum

5. Sigrid - Raw

More girl power, this time coming straight out of the Norwegian North. Sigrid drops her new single, once again stripped of any excessive make up or pretention. “Raw” proves Sigrid’s position as the fresh and clean face of the modern pop-music.

6. Pearl Jam - Can’t Deny Me

Rumour has it a new album by the legends of grunge is imminent. Until then, though, we have a brand new track to keep us warmed up and wanting for more. “Can’t Deny Me” is a politically charged tune, which during the weekend Eddie Vedder dedicated to all the victims and survivors of the shooting in that infamous Florida high school. How many more songs like this will it take to actually change someting?

7. Touts - Asleep

It’s SXSW time and Austin, Texas is all music. Touts are part of the British Music Embassy at the festival and as one of the more interesting young and also incredibly good live bands in the UK, they seem to be a logical choice for the British showcase. Besides, what a better way to promote your new song?

8. DJ DANDAMAN, So Solid Crew - Deepa Than Dis

So Solid back in action, in full squad and with a banger, taken out from DJ DANDAMAN’s secret treasure chest.

Deepa Than Dis

9. SOHN - Hue/Nil

It’s time to give electronica (and SOHN’s gentle, ethereal piano-led melodies and graceful voice) its due credit. “Hue” hits you hard, like a wild river, even though it’s utterly minimalistic. The song has one goal only - to make the statement that “I will never find another like you” and thickly underline it sonically. In the end, you even get Burial vibes. “Nil” takes us back to square one, where “you’re not in love” anymore. It sets a scene of inner feverishness, of longing, vulnerability and guilt, painted with a far richer musical palette. SOHN gives us two extremely emotionaly dense compositions; he works immaculately with tempo and melody to communicate some absolutely opposite feelings, which eventually end up as the same obscure but encompassing and hopeless pain.

Hue Nil

Okay, enough is enough, it’s dessert time! This week it’s a courtesy of another wunderkind in music, who was brought up in Portugal and the US and has Middle-Eastern background.

And because it was my birthday weekend, you get an extra treat. Thievery Corporation are back with new music, a forthcoming album and a tour date in Sofia in the summer.

Among the honorary mentions this week are slowthai with his alien and quite mad and spooky video for “North Nights”, Leon Bridges with “Bad Bad News” and “Bet Ain’t Worth the Hand”, Kim Cesarion with “Call On Me”, The Raveonettes with their “Ghost” and Subculture Sage’s calling for change. Also, you can check George Ezra’s last karaoke gig, accompanied by First Aid Kit. This new double single by Seinabo Sey is worth giving a listen, too.

Among the not-so-honorary-mentions we find Ella Eyre & Yxng Bane, Yxng Bane again, on his own, Jess Glynne & Yungen, Charlie Puth & Kehlani, Kygo & Miguel, Snakehips & St Rulez. It seems we have finally arrived in the candy land of endless collaborations and future summer bangers, eh? Unfortunately, that is where we also find Duke Dumont who, helped by Ebenezer, has crafted something enormously summery, airy and easy breezy in its character - but, I am afraid, not in the good sense of it all. Buried in all these Jamiroquai-esque (or Tom Misch-esque?) funky vibes there is nothing which could make of “Inhale” more than a budget version of “Feels”, trying to climb up the streaming charts as higher as possible.

Albumwise, we are a bit short on numbers but not on quality. Wrap your ears around fresh LPs by Bishop Nehru, Yo La Tengo, The Magic Gang, Fickle Friends, Snoop Dogg and Stone Temple Pilots.

That was that, folks! See ya next week!

breathtakingdestinations

Chungjangsa Shrine - Mount Mudeung National Park - South Korea (by Al Case)

different-landscapes

earworms, #6

Bonjour! Shall I play some music?

1. Kölsch - In Bottles ft. Aurora

I still can’t get enough of Bicep’s debut album and there’s already a new tune by Kölsch out. Grey was one of the big hits of 2016 and a good part of 2017 so it’s only natural to be a bit hyped up about this one. In Bottles lacks the strong, distinctive instrumental line, which stood out so much in Grey and it’s centred more around Aurora’s original vocals. The track reminds us of that time in the Noughties when chill out/lounge music was dominating the Ibiza party landscape.

2. Syd - Bad Dream / No Looking Back

It’s obvious that there is no way Syd could sing anything of poor quality. That here, plus two more in a brand new EP are the living proof of her immense talents. What more do you need to get in the mood for some play?

3. Everything Is Recorded - Mountains Of Gold ft. Sampha, Ibeyi, Wiki, Kamasi Washington

Remember that deep dive from last week? Well, now we get more of the same, doubled. Mr. Richard Russell, one of our favourite label-owners and producers, assembles an A-team of his best signees and puts out Mountains Of Gold - a beautiful mess of sounds and voices, in which incredible artists work their magic on top of a Grace Jones (!) sample. The good thing is, it looks like we’re getting an album at some not-so-far-in-the-future point.

4. Kelela - Frontline

The bar of LMK is high and hard to reach but Kelela never ceases to aspire to better and here she is, spoiling us with yet another great treat off of her forthcoming record.

Frontline

5. Avelino - Origami

Tottenham’s own releases his second cut for the year after Energy, which had us all swept away. More rap than grime, more poetic than aggressive, in Origami Avelino shows his true lyric genius off, giving his mentor Wretch 32 a reason to be proud.

Origami

6. Beck - Up All Night

Up All Night is quite a sharp and surprising turn in Mr. Hansen’s work to date. It’s bright and danceable, made to get big crowds up and fits perfectly into the oh-so-trendy category of "apocalyptic party tune”. It takes us through a super-hero love story - old-fashioned shiny-armour knights play around in the romantically naive video. It’s Don Quixote all over the place - the knight is a girl who storms a house party with a road sign for a shield.

7. St. Vincent - Los Ageless

Part two of the place names/wordplay series. While in New York the pain was still too fresh and burning and mixed with guilt and regret, in Los Ageless it looks like the loss is already embraced and a new phase is coming - looking for resolution. Whether because of the sun in California, or something else, the song is considerably more lively, if not optimistic. What’s been done is irreversible, resentment and desperation are inevitable. It’s a story old and familiar as the world itself.

More? A week ago, unexpectedly for all of us, KAYTRANADA (just because he can) dropped not one but three new instrumental tracks on Soundcloud. You can check them out below.

2017 07 04 2017 09 01 - SUS 2017 - 38

More more? In the past seven days we’ve heard fresh new entries from Foo Fighters, Mr. Probz & Anderson .Paak (no doubt an interesting one), Sammy Porter, N.O.R.E. and Pharrell, Superorganism. After some time off, Alabama Shakes’ charismatic frontwoman Britanny Howard is back. We find her in a different company and with another project under her belt - meet Bermuda Triangle and their melodic Americana folk piece Rosey.

Nothing But Thieves, Princcess Nokia, Nick Mulvey and Neil Young all made us a tiny bit happier with their albums.

In other news, Sam Smith and U2 are also back in business.

simena

Henri HAYDEN

earworms, #5

Morning, people! At first listen, the week seemed promising, but then at second - not that much. At third, a couple of true gems emerged and there is no way in the world I am not talking about them.

1. Ibeyi - Deathless ft Kamasi Washington

We’re kicking off with a deep dive. The French-Cuban twins Lisa and Naomi have a significant musical background and vast creative potential. Bringing together Yoruba ethno-chants and modern electronic hip-hop beats, they come up with original sound in their loaded with mystical energy songs. Deathless is the second installment out from their sophomore record Ash (due Sept 29th). It is a captivating track celebrating life and everything that is bigger than us, no matter what kind of a twisted reality we’re living in. The video to the song is brilliant in its own terms and if that’s not enough to get your attention, guest-starring is no other but the jazz-master Kamasi Washington.

2. Skott - Remain

In Remain Skott roams the new realms of auto-tune, vocal manipulation and electronic tricks. By that, I don’t imply anything negative, no, she is just exploring new musical grounds and techniques, to make her tunes even more diverse. For now, it’s a success.

Remain

3. Vera - Falling ft. Okay Kaya

Falling is one of those mellow, blue songs that bring such a good, lighthearted spirit and make you appreciate all the small simple things in life, regardless of the occasional pinch of salt. It’s a perfect fit for a road trip playlist, along with classics such as Arcade Fire, that Sara Tavares song and Chambao.

Falling

4. Frank Ocean - Provider

After what seemed like a lifetime of silence, Frank wants to (obviously) make it up to us and releases new music far more often than expected. Do we complain? Not at all. Does he “provide”? Yes, definitely.

5. Louis Mattrs - Searching & Pink Lemonade

Louis Mattrs surely has a beautiful, tender voice that goes hand in hand with a soulful genre such as r&b. Searching and Pink Lemonade are both made by the the rules of the modern version of that style and they are in no way bad songs per se. There is, however, a certain unpleasant aftertaste of mainstream cheats, stronger than one would expect.

Searching Pink Lemonade

5a. Elli Ingram - Stone Cold

For reasons unknown, it’s inevitable to talk about Louis Mattrs and not mention Elli Ingram. As I said last week, Love You Really is out Sep 15th and Stone Cold is another track out from it. Ingram delivers delicious jazzy and funky vibes in an even clearer and more classic style with her incredible and lush voice.

6. Jessie Ware - Selfish Love

More associations. Speaking of classics - it’s a classic French film about love. Starring - Ms. Ware and her fabulous vocals.

It’s time for dessert, kids! This time it’s more about the video than the song. And it’s not because the song is bad, but because by the time it got the visuals, it was already a bit rusty by our standards, which is in fact another reason to have it on repeat for the past 3 months or so. Anyway. Cersei Lannister may be an extremely unpleasant character (the archetypal bitch?) but Lena Heady is one of our favourite popular faces. Ladies and gents, to your attention - Ill Ray (The King) and Her Majesty Lena.

Lastly, for those who love long records, it’s time to give what’s due to all the brilliant albums that have been put out in the last seven days. Whether because autumn’s here and we’re all back to work, or because they’ve been recharged with fresh creative energy, lots of our dearest artists honored September’s very first day with a record. I mean the long-anticipated american dream by LCD, Bicep’s phenomenal debut of the same name, INHEAVEN’s equally great first LP and the dramatic-sounding titles by Jake Bugg and Daughter. Kojey Radical, a hot young multidisciplinary artist, also released his awaited project In Gods Body.

In the single category - recent tracks by Nothing But Thieves, Fink and Courtney Barnett & Kurt Vile.

Bye and see ya soon!

earworms, #4

Slowly, but steadily we’ve come to that moment in time when summer’s almost gone and the hype with it is also withering away. This week we have Reading and Leeds and Carnival as our last sunny, festive resorts, easing us into autumn. Hopefully, good tunes will continue to come out and in that, this week makes no exception.

1. Foo Fighters - The Sky Is A Neighbourhood

Have you heard that yet? Because, if you have not, it’s a big miss and that has to be fixed immediately. After putting the epic Run out, the Foos follow up with something a bit peculiar and in it’s own way epic. Many say The Sky Is A Neighbourhood is not rock exactly and they are probably right. However, that doesn’t make the song any less good and it will definitely help it radio-wise. The only thing I am not that sure about is the video and these sparkling-white-walker eyes.

2. Jorja Smith - On My Mind ft. Preditah

Recently garage’s been a lot on Jorja’s mind, obviously. With this new track, rather out of her usual r&b/soul and hip-hop lanes, she once again proves to be immensely talented, versatile and unafraid of exploring new ways. P.S. I kind of think that garage is on the rise again *happily rubbing hands with a big smile on*

3. Raleigh Ritchie - Lonely Summer/The River ft. Chris Loco

The man known to millions as Grey Worm is generous enough and surprises us with not one, but two new tracks, out of Westeros and in his other emploi. Lonely Summer is part of fashion label Napapijri’s Four Seasons project where all the classical parts from Vivaldi get reworked into contemporary compositions by young up-and-coming artists. Jacob Anderson, being the multi-talented person he is, delivers, unsurprisingly, while telling the story of a man who doesn’t know how to be happy and his lonely summer. The River is another melancholic, typical for Ritchie record about strong feelings, growing up and running away.

4. Beck - Dear Life

Going back to mid-90′s when everything seemed way more bright and optimistic. At least from today’s perspective... Dear Life’s lyrics are by the book of alternative’s songwriting and fit incredibly well into the modern trend of apocalyptic party songs. In this track Beck uses a lot of different inspirations from Fatboy Slim to Beatles to Spoon. He knows how to craft a good tune and it won’t be something unheard of if Colours gets an album of the year nomination.

5. INHEAVEN - Stupid Things

One of the exciting new bands, taken on the hard mission to keep rock and grunge alive and kicking. It looks like Stupid Things is in the role of the “rhytmic ballad” in their upcoming debut record INHEAVEN (out 1/9) and gives a peak at what these four South Londoners are capable of out of their usual box full of spectacular guitars and drums.

6. Wu-Tang Clan - People Say ft. Redman

Our weekly (nostalgic) fix of rap comes straight from the greats. People Say is a memory of the past glorious times of classic old school hip-hop when Lil’ Uzi Vert should have been very lil indeed...

The dessert is a song which might not be entirely brand new but it’s no doubt one of the sweetest tunes out there in the last couple of months.

Four Tet - Two Thousand And Seventeen

In the “.. and others” section we have The Killers and the title track of their new record which is considerably different from the power-pop-rock anthems they’ve put out so far. We also have another remix out of Humanz, this time in the form of Saturnz Barz, courtesy of Cadenza, and this sweet Latino-extravaganza by Kali Uchis. More fresh tunes come out by Miguel and Travis Scott, JP Cooper and Astrid S. To get the full picture, we wrap it up electronically with Bicep (debut LP out on Friday) and Pnau (who bring the melodic electronica of the 90′s back).

For those of you who are into full, long play albums, QOTSA are finally coming to the rescue with Villains and Buddy presents his Magnolia. If you are on the more melancholic side of things - The War On Drugs and their A Deeper Understanding will get you covered.

earworms, #3

Hello! Fancy some music?

1. Rudimental & Sub Focus - Trouble ft. Maverick Sabre and Chronixx

Remember that time when I told you I wasn’t really impressed with Rudimental’s new track and was expecting them to come up with something proper? Well, anticipation’s over. We finally have Trouble – a delicious dnb cut with some help from the likes of Sub Focus, Maverick Sabre and Chronixx. With the latter two it’s impossible to get away without a certain level of Caribbean sound which goes so well with the typical Rudimental brass game and Sub Focus’ deep beat-substance. As soon as you hear the track you can pinpoint the people involved; however, that doesn’t necessarily spoil the harmony or the wholeness at all.

2. Wolf Alice - Beautifully Unconventional

The Song! In an interview on Radio 1 Ellie said the track was inspired by that Winona Ryder/Christian Slater film. And, really, it’s so obvious that it could be easily added to the score of Heathers, both because of the lyrics and the slightly 80’s vibe to it. On top of that, to me Ellie herself is so like Winona, I wonder what kind of video they might put out… After the brilliant My Love Is Cool Wolf Alice are on to new, unexplored musical territories. Still, it looks like we’re in safe hands and Visions of a Life would be no less of a treat for our poor music junkie souls.

3. Elli Ingram - Better Alone

The album’s ready. It’s called Love You Really and it’s out September 15th. That’s our second taste from it and we can’t wait to wrap our ears and hands around it.

Better Alone

4. LCD Soundsystem - tonite

With the release of Everything Now last month the whole drama around Arcade Fire is now over. Luckily, we still have LCD. Why I put these two bands together, in one basket? Well, allegedly legendary status in music, long-anticipated new records (and rather curious promotion campaigns), socially-conscious lyrics and those sweet 80′s disco flashes. Do I need to say more? Tonite is in one league with Dance Yrself Clean and Daft Punk Is Playing At My House and it makes you want to grab your dancing shoes just as much. When you listen to the lyrics - even more just because you need to shake that vast feeling of emptiness off.

5. Buddy - Type of Shit ft, Wiz Khalifa

It should be clear by now that for some reason I like Buddy. Recently he announced a new EP with the romantic-floral title of Magnolia. New singles are pouring and again, we have another guest-star, giving a helping hand with a verse.

Our third course this week is Bastille’s take on Basket Case. Along with Dan Smith’s voice, string and brass sections, which have long ago become their trademark, we can now add covers to that list with an honest heart. With a good portion of creativity and wit, Bastille are reworking the term “cover” in every way imaginable - they are turning songs inside out, making them something different and basically - their own. It’s not by chance that fans put them in a completely new “category” - “There are normal bands/singers who do a one song cover. Then there are Bastille." With Basket Case we get an unexpected but an excellent rendition of the Green Day classic so nicely fitting into Bastille’s world - a bit depressive, a bit desperate and childish but still with an uplifting melody. And, to be frank, who wouldn’t recognise themselves in the character from the song, 20+ years ago, or today?

Basket Case

And because there’s still loads of music which I am missing out, let’s limit the damage as much as we can. As far as albums go, Chase & Status have finally blessed us with Tribe after what felt like a lifetime. And the wait was worth every long, single day and month. Grime, garage, d&b, dub, reggae. It is just everything we’ve ever dreamt of, plus some experimental stuff and a radio-friendly song for us all to be happy and satisfied. Personal favourites – Nervous (!), Tribute, Don’t Stop, Real No More, all 17.

Gearing up for a record, Nothing But Thieves deliver “I’m Not Made By Design” - another track with killer vocals from Connor. Gorillaz share a new take on their delicious dance anthem Strobelite, this time with Kaytranada on board, while Skip Marley makes his appearance on our weekly entry with Refugee.

New singles have also come out by ZHU (it’s an EP, really, try this out), OFFAIAH & Shenseea, Anna Of The North and Amber Mark.