Images & Words: Stormzy, "Vossi Bop"
The Round-Up: The Best Songs of 2019 (1st Quarter)
The Round-Up: The Best Albums of 2019 (First Quarter)
Chief Keef, "Ain't Gonna Happen"
SOHN
“Lessons”
Lessons (out 9/23)
It’s always a good day when this mysterious Austrian singer bequeaths another moody, slow-burning new single on the blogosphere. Like its scintillating predecessor, “Bloodflows,” “Lessons” is a carefully crafted, expansive track that unfolds slowly before presenting its true beauty near the end. There’s still no official word of a debut LP, but as long as the singles of this standard, I’ll be listening.
Black Orange Juice
“Started in Paris”
3 Started Alone (out September 23 on True Panther)
While drinking black orange juice isn’t normally recommended, listening to it is fucking delicious. The group consists of rising, UK deep house producer Ossie and the increda-slick twin vocals of Paul Black and Tilz, and it’s a hell of a combo. Ossie’s rock-solid house stylings are the perfect foil for their urbane, sultry, R&B vocals. My only wish is that 3 Started Alone had more than three original tracks, but it’ll definitely be a good look for fans of similarly-minded acts like Kwes, JMSN, and Javeon McCarthy.
Blood Orange
“Chamakay”
Cupid Deluxe (out this fall on Domino)
Devonte Hynes has officially entered CAN’T FEEL MY FACE mode. The 27 year-old Brit has written and produced four or five of the best tracks of this year, and now he’s getting into the act himself. “Chamakay” is the debut single from his follow-up to 2011’s super-underrated, Coastal Grooves, and if God exists, it will be the album that catapults him into the pop music stratosphere. “Chamakay” is everything I love about Dev Tunes; it’s a breezy, alluring throwback cut without a shred of irony or pastiche. Extra points for an affecting video (shot by kindred spirit Adam Bainbridge of Kindness) and the lush vocals of Chairlift’s Caroline Polachek. We don’t have a lick of information about Cupid Deluxe, but if it’s out this year, it should be one of the albums of the year.
Jens Lekman
“If You Ever Need A Stranger”
When I Said I Wanted to Be Your Dog (Secretly Canadian)
I’ve been away for a week or so, mostly because I flew back to California for two of my best friends’ wedding (they married each other). Without going all LiveJournal on everyone, it was a sensational, moving weekend where I saw a lot of my closest, oldest friends. For that, I wanted today’s HJOTD to be my favorite wedding song — this powerful, plaintiff ballad from my spirit animal, Jens Lekman. It sums up a lot of my silly, sappy feelings about weddings, developed while working a lot of them in college. Since I can’t sing, however, my version would be called, “If You Ever Need a Stranger To DJ Your Wedding.”
Congrats again, Cha & Beata.
Darkside
First 11 Minutes of New Album
Untitled New LP (out ???? on Other Lives)
A couple years removed from their impeccable debut EP, NYC/Chilean production wonderkid Nicolas Jaar and Dave Harrington are at it again. Their forthcoming LP was announced in a typically cryptic, out-of-the-blue manner, with Jaar tweeting that they would be playing it in its entirety last Tuesday on the Lower East Side.
After that, the duo released the disc’s first 11 minutes online, and while little else is known about the release, we do know now that the first 11 minutes are both very good and very Darkside. Harrington’s palm-muted, single-string guitar lines are back, as are the evocative vocal samples and murky synths . Though it is 11 minutes long, it somehow still ends too soon and leaves the listener crying out for the rest of the story. It is a teaser, and I am well and truly teased. Well played, guys. Well played.
Darkside: “First 11 Minutes of New Album”
Sam Smith
“Nirvana”
Nirvana EP (out late summer on PMR)
While most only know him for his star-turning performance on Disclosure’s mega-jam “Latch,” the Hertfordshire-native has been lending his smooth vocals to a number of excellent nu-deep house / future garage singles for most of 2013. His latest track, “Nirvana,” is more of a classic soul jam, as the 21 year-old gets his ladykiller on over a slinky guitar line and a cascading melody. Prince’s influence on pop music has never been greater, and this is yet another example on the Purple one’s continuing reign.
Fat Trel
“Niggaz Dying”
SDMG (Self-Released)
It only takes the rising Washington DC rapper a few seconds to reference colleague Lil’ Durk’s stunning single, “Dis Ain’t What You Want.” Cut from a similar cloth, Fat Trel’s affecting, somber slow-burner deals with a lot of the same emotions and realities, arguably in an even more articulate, erudite manner. Buoyed by a dreamy soundscape and an original hi-hat pattern courtesy of Canadian producer JGRAMM BEATS, the single brings us into the 23 year-old’s brutal reality, full of hopelessness, disappointment, and fear. While the excellent SDMG has more than its fair share of TURNUP cuts, Trel’s ability to switch up his flow and add emotive, reflective tracks into the mix makes it stand out from the rest.
Cyril Hahn
“Perfect Form” (f/ Shy Girls) (Kaytranada Remix)
Digital Single
I was preparing my “Best Songs of 2013” list, when Canadian producer/remix master, Cyril Hahn, dropped his scorching debut single, so I didn’t have a chance to write about it. The brilliant, moody cut featured a silky assist from Shy Girls vocalist Dan Vidmar.
Earlier today, rising Montreal-native Kaytranada (goddamn, Montreal is killin’ it right now) gave me a reason to bring it back up, in the form of this restrained, deep house remix. Kaytranada (né Kevin Celestin) twists Vidmar’s sultry falsetto* into a revelatory slow-burner that would be equally comfortable in the club, in the bedroom, or with the windows down.
*I appreciate that you could argue that all falsettos are “sultry,” but then there’s Chris Martin. Color me not sure.
Yuck
“Middle Sea”
Glow & Behold (out 10/1 on Fat Possum)
When the news broke last year that frontman Daniel Blumberg was leaving the band, I assumed that we’d never get a proper follow-up to the Londoners’ Gin Blossoms-tastic 2011 debut. However, the group has decided to soldier on as a three-piece with guitarist Max Bloom taking over main singing and songwriting duties. Judging by their first two singles, it looks like there is life after losing their singer.
Like their previous work, “Middle Sea” retains much of their classic, nostalgic Empire Records-ish sound — fuzzy guitars, sharp hooks, angst, more angst, EVEN MORE ANGST — and though Blumberg was a solid vocalist, Bloom’s delivery is more powerful and direct, which is a nice foil for their blurry, ephemeral arraignments. Though their future was uncertain, it is now bright.
Schwarz Dont Crack
“Incomplete (Demo)”
Digital Single
It’s been a while, but we finally get a new single from the ridiculously slept-on Berlin/NYC duo. There’s been recent rumblings of a long-awaited debut EP, and it looks like we are finally going to get our wish. On “Incomplete,” New Yorker Ahmad Larnes’ effortless, yet passionate croon is framed exquisitely by Sebastian Kreis’ drippy, heady arraignment (as per usual).
While Larnes’ voice is fit for Top 40 — there’s more than a little Jeremih in there — the group’s progressive, experimental spirt will keep them well on the fringes. That said, when said fringes are occupied by progressively-minded acts like Kwes, How to Dress Well, and Javeon McCarthy, it’s a pretty good place to be.
