Greatest Unknown Musicians of Our Time: Volume 3 January 2016
Thank you again for joining us here for Greatest Unknown Musicians of Our Time Volume 3. December was skipped due to some “housekeeping” and preparation for 2016. This month we have some truly unique artists in need of some exposure. So without further ado we bring you 2 different segments showcasing some of the Greatest Unknown Musicians of Our Time:
Shining Dust-
Shining Dust is a new Electropop Music Project born in Milan in September 2013 as a new dimension of sound&language&live performance. Shining Dust was founded, developed and edited by Alessandro Vitaloni (vocals, lyrics, guitars, basses, keyboards, drum machines, sound engineering, computer/MIDI programming and iPad live set up). Shining Dust derives from the new wave scene / synthpop. As concerns the stylish – cromatic aspects, Shining Dust is a grey – blue music type just as the persuasive austerity of an iceberg in a slow and silent motion; that said, very much distant from the redish colours steaming out of narrowminded and sordid rock ignorance. In a very natural way the duo unifies many musical influences leaving out, such as unwelcomed guests, any wail and whining blues. After all the main textual message is not imperious nor self praising, but a quiet observation of some aspects that have remained forgone for too long. The type of instrument that are used and mostly the filtering of special effects are closely studied to intensify the "mind - expanding" aspect more than the "muscle – moving” one.That being said, echos, flanger, phaser and chorus prevail over distortions, fuzz and fake rock-like sounds, putting the ear attention in harmony with the mental one. In such a perfect combination there is also a voice that is deliberately without boundaries, the heart of the iceberg, the heart of a message that does not want to impose, not even itself, but to spread through sounds that will capture in a soft but unrelentingly way.
Ale Vitaloni is a true music professional in every sense of the word. Even though he excels as a “one man show” he has been very involved with collaborating and remixing other talented artists. I have been so blessed to have Ale create a few remixes for my own album TWEAK YOUR PATH as a test bed for further marketing of the album. His slew of electronic gear, engineering prowess and live instruments make him a formidable collaborator for those seeking a truly cutting edge product to present to listeners. Shining dust is steadily making his way further and further to the surface of the underground electronic music scene. It is literally only a matter of time before you will be hearing more of his music, whether it is an original piece or a remix.
Mirror is the debut album of Shining Dust, a musical project born in Milan, founded, developed and edited by Alessandro Vitaloni (vocals, lyrics, guitars, basses, keyboards, drum machines, sound engineering, computer programming and iPad) in collaboration with Marco Zanchet (guitars, keyboards, sound engineering). Shining Dust derives from the new wave scene / sinthpop.
The main desire and goal is to revise, expand and develop the traditional concepts of composition and musical arrangements. Thanks to the great eclecticism of the duo, the strong passion of Alessandro for the mix of various musical origins, to his great interest for ethnic music combined with electronics and his constant search for new sounds, rhythms and languages, Shining Dust begins programming on computer and iPad to create original preset drum machines, virtual effects, keyboards and ethnic instruments that are perfectly matching traces of traditional instruments like guitars and basses both during production phase and live performances.
The result of all this is "Mirror": an album that mixes electro-pop, trip hop and EDM. Although the reference background is mainly contemporary English music, there are obvious elements of new wave and sinthpop 80s together with some inserts of ethnic music such as samba. The eclecticism and ethnicity musical "Mirror" is also evident in his lyrics written in four different languages (English, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese) to create a universal Shining Dust message and to optimize the fusion between metric and rhythmic language.
The production process of Mirror began in September 2013 with the recording and mixing of the first songs with a new wave inspiration up to the recording of more electronic songs in the last months of 2014 when Alessandro finished studying the MIDI universe. Mirror was recorded, mixed and mastered entirely by Paolo Messere from Seahorse Recordings.
"Ligereza" (which is undoubtedly the ideal language to communicate the concept) is the first single from Shining Dust.
Shining Dust and Roofy will be releasing the remix EP of TWEAK YOUR PATH a little further into 2016 and hope you will join us for a truly unique combination of styles. Please have a look further into Ale Vitaloni’s work at these links:
Link to the album "Mirror": http://shiningdust.bandcamp.com/album/mirror
FB page: https://www.facebook.com/shiningdusty
Website: www.shiningdust.com
Twitter Page: https://twitter.com/shining_dust2
Google+ Page: https://plus.google.com/u/0/b/109010031446655889580/+Shiningdust/about
Myspace: https://myspace.com/shining.dust
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=AAIAABfLFjUBKyAx5BHldEjDpJwHCm1vRghrZeg&trk=nav_responsive_tab_profile
ReverbNation: https://www.reverbnation.com/shiningdust5
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/shiningdust
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DT Lamont-
Dante Lamont Holton, also known by his artist name DT Lamont, is an American hip-hop recording artist from Virginia. His first influences in hip-hop were many artists such as Slick Rick, Busta Rhymes and the sounds of DrDre.
DT started piano officially at age 8 although he had been playing by ear before then. He started taking saxophone lessons as well by age 9. His influences in Jazz were John Coltrane, Charlie Parker and Yusef Lateef whom he had the honor of studying under at a summer jazz program at UMass before graduating high school. He has composed many jazz and classical works but prefers making hip-hop beats.
Although rapping had been part of his music involvement from the beginning, it wasn’t his primary focus until he began writing lyrics about expanding consciousness. DT Lamont had always been the type to ask questions and seek as many answers as possible. Being called weird his whole life from thinking extensively in ways that were always outside of the box.
Song’s he has written such as “Outside Of The Box” reflect the challenges often faced from thinking differently. The album “From Dark To Light” captures the shift of his consciousness from beginning to end in song order. Most of his songs come from his personal theories of how the world works. Science has always been a parallel interest and is incorporated in many of his lyrics. He combines this with his spiritual self, questioning his existence and is constantly looking for the bigger picture.
DT Lamont’s goal is to inspire people to think and follow their innermost interests at the core of their being. His quest is ongoing and future projects will likely incorporate aspects of various levels consciousness along his path.
The first time i heard DT Lamont i was wondering why this guy isn’t a SUPERSTAR?? His musical arrangements are quite timeless but that is only 1/3rd of his arsenal. Vocal prowess is huge in the hip-hop/rap community and if you just don’t have the right voice you can always just make beats and hope for the best. DT’s voice is absolutely believable (similar to a modern day Prophet) and does not waver from the “Enlightened Hip-Hop” that he absolutely CRUSHES!! His lyrics though are what set him aside from everything else I have heard in the widely diversified Hip-Hop/Rap community. It is mind blowing to hear his subject matter acrobatically tossed into the microphone for the listener to consume. DT’s wisdom/truth seeking lyrics bring a much needed awareness to the table and are truly the highlight of collaborations he has created with other artists such as Marquis, SIS, and Michael Fordham.
We got a chance to catch up with DT Lamont and ask him about what makes his art from so unique. This is what he had to say:
1.) Your creativity is so unbridled and original, just have to know what is your day job?
DT- I drive a dump truck. I love it because all day I do anything from listen to music, audio books, youtube subjects of interest like science, spirituality, hip hop... anything. I'm taking in information all day long and basically getting paid for it. That's how it feels. In reality I'm just transporting dirt or stone from one location to another.
2.) Any shows lined up? And if so do the other artists at that show bring a similar style to the mic?
DT- I have no shows lined up right now. The shows that I do are usually last minute and the artists are usually very different from what I perform. I do plan on performing more often since I have an album coming out in 2016 called "From Dark To Light".
3.) It is so hard to market music that does not fit standard genres. How do you go about spreading your "brand"?
DT- Good question! I target the communities that I most often interact with and who can relate to the subject matter. The plus side is these people hear and relate to the music in a very strong way and I think it catches them off guard. I market through conversation and insert a relevant song if it fits the subject we're on. They're mostly conscious people who love to think beyond what's on the surface like I do. The down side is some of them don't even listen to hip hop as much as they do other genres but they give it a listen because they see where my mind is at. I've gotten quite a few fans that way. I do market directly to hip hop but I have to throw other words in front of it like "conscious" or "enlightened" or "spiritual". I don't like to because people tend to love boxes and I'm claustrophobic as far as invisible boxes go.
4.) If there was one piece of gear you could have for your music, what would it be and why?
DT- I want a top of the line microphone. You know, like one of those $10,000 mics that are almost never found in home studios? I have enough sounds to work with and tweak, but the quality of the lyrics at this point is most important to me. My fans talk about my lyrics more so than the thump of the bass or the type of organ I used so I want them to hear me with the best quality. Of course a good mic means nothing in a bad sound environment or a bad mix but current home studio can handle it.
You can check out more of DT Lamont’s work at these links:
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/DT-Lamont-134324467893/
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/@DTLamont
SOUNDCLOUD: www.soundcloud.com/dt-lamont
ReverbNation: www.reverbnation.com/dtlamont