Archives: January 2021

Following on from his Winston Surfshirt collab “Every Day Is A Holiday”, Angus Stone’ssolo project Dope Lemon returns with “Kids Fallin’ In Love”. Swaying with a soulful, stars-in-its-eyes warmth, it’s got the laidback rock spirit his fans love, but is even more under the spell of classic songwriting. Angus’ falsetto is especially tender, hitting the high notes as well as giving some spoken word delivery. Listen below, via the sun-kissed music video (BELOW!).

This follows the release of a collaborative track with fellow New South Wales outfit, Winston Surfshirt. Their new track “Every Day Is A Holiday” captured the smooth, laid-back sound both artists are known for. Dope Lemon’s sophomore album Smooth Big Cat was released last year.

Daniel Dumile, the masked rapper who performed as MF Doom and built a lasting underground fan base with his offbeat wordplay and comic-book persona, died on Oct. 31, a statement from his family said on Thursday. He was 49.

The rapper’s record label, Rhymesayers, provided the statement, signed by Mr. Dumile’s wife, Jasmine. The label did not give the cause of death or say why it was being announced two months later. Over six solo albums released between 1999 and 2009 and five collaborative LPs (with Madlib and Danger Mouse, among others) between 2004 and 2018, Mr. Dumile honed a style that was intricate and imaginative, calling on both esoteric and lowbrow references as well as cartoonish imagery in lyrics that could be poignantly emotional.

Born in London and raised on Long Island, he grew up steeped in early hip-hop. He debuted in 1989 on the 3rd Bass track “The Gas Face” with a standout cameo that helped him get a record deal for his own group, KMD, in which he rapped as Zev Love X. DOOM was widely admired by fellow rappers and producers. He was “your favorite MC’s MC,” wrote Q-Tip from A Tribe Called Quest on Twitter. In a post on Instagram, El-P wrote: “thank you for keeping it weird and raw always. you inspired us all and always will.” – Read the full article via NY Times

You know Alex Maas as the sorcerer vocalist and bassist of The Black Angels but there is also a softer, folkier side to this musician that is displayed in his song “The City,” taken off his soul-baring solo debut. 

His new album is a powerful work of gentle psychedelia, and a notable sonic departure from the heavy, pulse-raising sound that Maas has become renowned for. For more than 15 years, The Black Angels have served as one of rock’s preeminent purveyors of blissful walls of fuzz and intensity. They’ve also served as ringleaders of a larger psych-rock scene, particularly through their Levitation music festival, which inspires a pilgrimage of kindred spirits from around the world to the Austin area year after year.

But Luca scratches a new itch for Maas. “It’s a whole different part of my brain,” Maas says of the album, which finds him putting aside his Jesus and Mary Chain LPs and instead looking for inspiration in acts varying from The Everly Brothers to Portishead. Opener “Slip Into” delivers extraterrestrial themes over a funky beat and an eerie synth line, while “American Conquest” is a trance-inducing journey that focuses on issues much closer to home, like the horrific shootings ravaging the country in recent years. “The City” is a woozy campfire song reckoning with the larger cycle of human violence, and official single “Been Struggling” is a dreamy waltz that takes a winking look at memory and fate. “I wanted to go someplace musically that I’ve never gone before,” Maas considers. “Wu-Tang meets Leonard Cohen.”

“The Other Lover” sees Little Dragon team up with Ghanaian American vocalist/songwriter Moses Sumney—who released his widely acclaimed double-album græ earlier this year—with a track that showcases his unmistakable voice alongside the equally inimitable Yukimi Nagano, the two vocalists intertwined over a gently unfolding swirl of synthesizers, horns, and stripped-back percussion.

The track draws it’s lyrics from Little Dragon’s “Another Lover” taken from their latest album New Me, Same Us, released earlier this year on Ninja Tune. Entirely self-produced and recorded at the pioneering Swedish band’s studio, New Me, Same Us  saw the band go back to basics, falling back in love with their instruments: drums, bass, keyboards, harp, guitar and voice, to produce some of their most focused and best music to date. The album hit #5 on the Top Dance/Electronic Albums chart in the US, with Mixmag calling it “a futuristic record bursting with lush textures and elevated by lead singer Yukimi Nagano’s sublime vocals” and the Guardian finding them on “on deliciously soulful form”.

Pink Siifu and Fly Anakin’s highly-anticipated joint album, the aptly titled FlySiifu’s, is out now via Lex Records. Both are prolific and celebrated as solo artists: Pink Siifu received universal acclaim for his 2018 breakout solo album ensley and this year’s genre-defying album NEGRO, with The FADER deeming him “one of the most intriguing musicians in Black music.” Fly Anakin, known for his technical prowess and a consistent stream of solo music and collaborative projects, has earned praise from legendary hip-hop producer Madlib, who called Anakin “one of the illest MCs.”

FlySiifu’s connects the thread between two adept collaborators and prolific artists in their own right in Pink Siifu and Fly Anakin. The album mirrors the musical community that both Siifu and Anakin are apart of, represented through their own fictional record shop with guest appearances from Liv.e, Fousheé, $ILKMONEY, and featuring production from the likes of Madlib, Jay Versace, Ohbliv, Awhlee, Animoss and others.

Run the Jewels have shared a stop-motion music video for their RTJ4 song “walking in the snow.” The video—helmed by “Burn the Witch” and “Don’t Get Captured” director Chris Hopewell—features action figure version of Killer Mike and El-P leading a revolution against an icy, authoritarian regime. Watch it go down below.

“It was great to work with the RTJ guys again,” Chris Hopewell said in a statement. “Everyone was very aware of the gravity of the subject matter and RTJ didn’t want to be too obvious or on the nail with the visuals, so we went with an ’80s style fantasy look with evil snow warriors and their icy king oppressing the bedroom toys. It was great to be involved with a project with a positive vibe to end a pretty fucked up year. Big thanks to the RTJ crew for their truth and for letting us work with their amazing music once again.”

Read about RTJ4 in Pitchfork’s “The 50 Best Albums of 2020.” – Read More HERE