Hot Jam of the Day

Hot Jam of the Day (07.05.12): Citizen, You Give Me That Something (f/ Sean Alto)

Posted on July 6, 2012 by TP1.COM in Hot Jam of the Day | Comments Off

Citizen
“You Give Me That Something” (f/ Sean Alto)
Room Service (Love Fever)

This is the kind of track that the term “hot jam” is made for. Oh my god. This, the final track on London producer Laurence “Citizen” Blake’s upcoming EP, is the kind of cut built for a summer night in some dilapidated basement filled with twice as many people as it can hold. You know, one of the best nights of your life. Deep, sexy, energetic, and virile as all hell, “You Give Me That Something” is another win for the Love Fever crew, and something tells me it won’t be the last. Extra points for the velvet vocals of Sean Alto.

[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/51066613″ iframe=”true” /]

Hot Jam of the Day (07.03.12): Jessie Ware, “Wildest Moments” (Star Slinger Remix)

Posted on July 6, 2012 by TP1.COM in Hot Jam of the Day | Comments Off

Jessie Ware
“Wildest Moments” (Star Slinger Remix)
Devotion (PMR)

I’ve spent much of 2012 singing this silky London vocalist’s praises, and as far as I’m concerned, she’s still batting 1.000 for the year. One of the many things I love about Jessie Ware is her incredible versatility. In her short career, we’ve heard her slinky and understated (“Running”); bouncy and twee (“Valentine”); and most recently, we heard her get her full-throated queen diva on via her debut album’s third single, the dramatic power ballad “Wildest Moments.” And on its remix, we get to hear yet another side of Ms. Ware, thanks to a bubbling, down-tempo remix from remixer extraordinaire, Star Slinger. Reminiscent of fellow TP-favorite Disclosure’s remix of “Running,” the remix highlights Ware’s powerful, Sade-ish voice while adding an entirely new feel to the song. Now we’ll have to sit tight and wait till Devotion drops on August 20. Should be special.

[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/51808992″ iframe=”true” /]

Check out the video for “Wildest Moments”

Hot Jams of the Day (07.01.12): Sean Blackthorn, Bedtime|Sleepless EP

Posted on July 3, 2012 by TP1.COM in Featured, Hot Jam of the Day | Comments Off

Sean Blackthorn
Bedtime|Sleepless EP
Self-Released

The second half of 2012 got off to a gorgeous start, thanks to a new EP from TP-favorite and Toronto-native Sean Blackthorn. Oft-compared with the new breed of indie R&B (hate that term), the talented troubadour’s newest work feels alive in a way that very few tracks do nowadays. He’s always favored stark, piano-driven arraignments, and Bedtime|Sleepless isn’t any different, highlighting the raw power of Blackthorn’s falsetto. In a genre that tends to favor inch-perfect auto-tune and flawless production, Blackthorn’s naked, stark music feels incredibly human and perfectly imperfect (shout out to Cee-Lo). His arraignments leave no place to hide, and listening to Blackthorn crack, strain, and stretch his emotive voice to the limit is truly a thing of beauty. Wow.

The Hottest Jams of the Year So Far… (In 140 characters or less)

Posted on June 29, 2012 by TP1.COM in Featured, Hot Jam of the Day | Leave a comment

To save myself from TLDR, I decided to keep all my ramblings under 140 characters. Instead of trying to choose my absolute favorite songs, I stuck to only songs that were released as singles, just for my own sanity. Also, the list is in alphabetical order — no rankings. I also limited to one track per artist. If you hate Twitter-speak, fragments, and hashtags, soz. LOL im nt soz.

Though Spotify is missing a lot of stuff, here’s a link to a playlist with a bunch of the tracks on this list. LINK.

Ab-Soul: “Terrorist Threats” (f/ Danny Brown, Jhené Aiko)
Paranoia that the Geto Boys could be proud of. The only Black Hippy w/o a WikiPedia page breaks out. Danny with another genius verse.

[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/42243084″ iframe=”true” /]

Animal Collective: “Honeycomb”
Can you think of any other band that always sounds so new yet so familiar? Can’t wait for Centipede Hz…

[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/45162527″ iframe=”true” /]

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Hot Jam of the Day (06.18.12): Joey Badass, “Waves”

Posted on June 20, 2012 by TP1.COM in Featured, Hot Jam of the Day | Leave a comment

Joey Bada$$
“Waves”
1999 (Self-Released)

While it’s easy to roll your eyes at his gauche moniker, one spin of the 17 year-old Flatbush-MC’s stunning debut mixtape will make even the biggest skeptic a believer. He may be young, but Bada$$’ music is rooted in Brooklyn’s rich hip-hop history. Rhyming mostly over jazzy breaks, boom-bap backbeats, and soulful melodies, the loquacious youngster flows with incredible grace and effortlessness. While it’s tough to pick a favorite from the consistently excellent LP, “Waves” highlights his first-class wordplay, hopeful exuberance, and exquisite storytelling. Simultaneously relentless and breezy, it’s impossible to listen to 1999 without thinking of another prodigiously talented 17-year old — Odd Future’s Earl Sweatshirt — and while the LA-native might edge Bada$$ on pure flow, Sweatshirt can’t touch the Brooklynite’s original, fascinating perspective and lyrical content. I would say the kid’s gonna be special, but he already is. Remember the name.

Joey Bada$$: “Waves”

Hot Jam of the Day (06.17.12): Jessie Ware, “Wildest Moments”

Posted on June 19, 2012 by TP1.COM in Featured, Hot Jam of the Day | Leave a comment

Jessie Ware
“Wildest Moments”
Devotion (Out 8.20.12 on PMR)

Two things have came through from all the pre-release singles from London siren Jessie Ware’s debut LP. First off, she is a bold, uncompromising singer who isn’t afraid to dish the real dirt on her life. Secondly, she’s a bit of a chameleon. We’ve heard her coo all sorts of sexy (“110%”), do mid-tempo moody (“Running”), and get her Amy-style 60’s soul on (her spellbinding cover of Bobby Caldwell’s “What You Won’t Do For Love”). And now we’ve got a bonafide new-age power ballad on our hands (think a better Florence/Lykke Li). While I wouldn’t expect this to be indicative of Devotion’s sonic direction, it represents another type of canvas that Ware has successfully spread her vocal watercolors on. The second half of 2012 is chock full of releases to watch, but Devotion is certainly staking its claim as one of the most anticipated albums of the 3rd and 4th quarter.

And just in case you haven’t fallen for her yet, this will help.

Hot Jams of the Day (06.16.12): Finally Boys, “You Will Be Healed”/”Lunar Lovers”

Posted on June 18, 2012 by TP1.COM in Hot Jam of the Day | Leave a comment

Finally Boys
“You Will Be Healed”/”Lunar Lovers”
Feelings (Self-Released)

Today’s hot jams come courtesy of two youthful weirdos/BFF’s from somewhere in the East Bay. I wasn’t expecting much when the fresh-faced duo took the stage on Friday night in support of the magical How to Dress Well, but I was bowled over by their hyper-blissful, maximalist sound and exuberant, passionate performance. Drawing from elements of trance, euro-house, Balearic beat, juke, electroclash, and whatever else they could find on MediaFire, the Boys (Preetom Choudhury and Shane LeBlanc) aim straight for the heart, crafting mile-deep whirlpools of synthy sonic goo that are crying out to swallow you up. Admittedly, they are still incredibly green and sometimes their tracks play like giant cock-teases without a money shot (ie massive crescendo, no real climax — think Pearl Jam’s “Black”), but it’s hard not to appreciate the amount of heart and emotion that they boys put into these tracks. I’ll be on the look out for Feelings when it drops later this quarter.

Finally Boys: “You Will Be Healed”

[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/34377864″ iframe=”true” /]

Hot Jam of the Day (06.15.12): Usher (f. Rick Ross), “Let Me See”

Posted on June 16, 2012 by TP1.COM in Hot Jam of the Day | Leave a comment

Usher
“Let Me See” (f/ Rick Ross)
Looking for Myself (LaFace)

Usher is a lot of things, but an idiot is not one of them. To make it in pop music for as long as he has, you need to be unbelievably savvy, and Usher’s sixth album is perhaps his greatest example of this quality. A direct result of the current post-Weeknd/Frank Ocean R&B landscape, Looking for Myself is littered with inspiration from the indie scene. While I suppose it’s surprising that a genre heavyweight would take cues from a bunch of upstarts without major deals, this is the Internet era, and the rules have changed. Admittedly, I’ve never been a great fan of Usher’s past work, but thanks to this new stylistic switch (along some incredibly on-point production), I’ve been forced to stand up and take note. Whether the blogosphere cred will translate into real dollars and cents (sales, so far, have been slow) remains to be seen, he’s made at least one new fan from this new sound. Oh, also, is there any MC who’s hotter than Rick Ross right now (besides Hansel)? Everything he touches seems to turn to platinum football fields these days.

Usher (f/ Rick Ross): “Let Me See”

Hot Jam of the Day (06.14.12): Ice Choir, “I Want You Now and Always”

Posted on June 15, 2012 by TP1.COM in Featured, Hot Jam of the Day | Leave a comment

Ice Choir
“I Want You Now and Always”
Afar (Underwater Peoples)

This is the third cut we’ve heard from the debut LP from Pains of Being Pure At Heart member Kurt Feldman’s new, heavily John Hughes-inspired side project. Like “Two Rings” and “Teletrips,” “I Want You Now and Always” is dripping in nostalgic longing, armed with killer 8-bit hooks, and slathered with slinky snyths and MIDI bass. This is hopelessly naive dance music for people who would rather rock out in front of the mirror to their headphones than at a packed discotheque. While many albums that are this rooted in doe-eyed pastiche don’t hold up over repeated listens, everything this Brooklyn quartet has released so far has done little but grow on me. Afar is due out at the end of July, and as long as their next single doesn’t feature Scott Stapp and the dude from Saliva, Mr. Feldman and friends have all but wrapped up my 20 bucks.

Ice Choir: “I Want You Now and Always”

Hot Jam of the Day (06.12.12): Tomas Barfod, “November Skies” (f/ Nina Kinert)

Posted on June 14, 2012 by TP1.COM in Hot Jam of the Day | Leave a comment

Tomas Barfod
“November Skies” (f/ Nina Kinert)
Salton Sea (Friends of Friends)

Friends of Friends has obviously been blowing up like crazy, and one of the real standouts of its eclectic roster is Danish producer Tomas Barfod. Coming off the back of his excellent Broken Glass EP, Salton Sea is Barfod’s maiden voyage into LP land, and though it’s a hurdle that many producers fall at, the Dane passes the test with flying colors. “November Skies,” one of the album’s best tracks, pairs Barfod’s engulfing, lush production with the soaring vocals of Swedish stalwart Nina Kinert. It’s about as poppy as the album gets, and in this case, I’m more than happy with that.

Tomas Barfod: “November Skies” f/ Nina Kinert

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