Texas rapper, Western Tink, recently let go this freestyle over a loop of my favorite beat from The Weeknd, “Loft Music”. As usual, Tink graces the track with some very simple, but impact-heavy lines in his unique fashion. Right now, Tink is finishing up his album with fellow Texan and incredible producer, Beautiful Lou, and if any of the music they have put out together already is an indication of what is to come, it is sure to be a doozy.
-TC
After releasing some pretty stellar tracks towards the end of last year, GPSYMTH just put out this full-length Ripostes. Although at face value it may be easy to lump GPYSMTH in with the vanilla dream-pop sounds of Washed Out, Ripostes shows that he is willing to experiment outside of all the warm haze and reverb. The over 6-minute ‘Dover’ has a drone/ambient aspect to it that could have passed as an instrumental for Panda Bear’s 2011 Tomboy and ‘Bethel’ wouldn’t have been out of place on Tim Hecker’s deconstructionist Ravedeath, 1972. I’m glad to see GPSYMTH carve out his own niche in the over-crowded blogosphere of artists making lo-fi/reverby bedroom-pop. Stream Ripostes below and check out more at his bandcamp…
-PK
For anyone who still is convinced that Lecs Luther is an Irish OF wannabe, ‘Shrine of Jehovah’ will finally put your doubts to rest. It’s hard to describe exactly what Luther is doing with this song as he half raps half croons over an ambient and chilled-out beat and I’ll admit it took me a few listens to get used to. ’Shrine of Jehovah’ doesn’t show off the incredible technical wordplay abilities of Luther (which he has already proven), instead focusing more on experimentation. The song is definitely not for everyone, however, it is an incredibly interesting and risky direction that has me ridiculously hyped for Fish and Chips.
-PK
For one of my favorite tracks on my favorite hip-hop album of last year, Shabazz Palaces have enlisted the help of Maikoiyo Alley-Barnes to direct this video for ‘Are You… Can You… Were You? (Felt)’. The video follows a girl as she confronts her mother in what is probably an argument about her clothes in the Ethiopian language Amharic (according to the top youtube comment). Outside of the main story line, the video is full of traditional African images and other stunning shots.
-PK
Following in the cigarette-smoking, sunglasses wearing legacy of bands like Smith Westerns and The Strokes, Howler have possibly the one of the catchiest songs of 2012 with their track ‘Back Of Your Neck’. From the opening guitar licks to the instant classic ‘ewww weee ewww’ chorus, ‘Back Of Your Neck’ has everything that a lo-fi/garage-rock band could dream of writing. Of course it only helps that the detached vocals Jordan Gatesmith come off as genuine where it could have easily been Julian Casablancas mimicry. The video may also remind you of this or this.
-PK
I’ve been following the work of Russian producer bitterTV for a while now so I was very excited to see that he has put together some of his tracks and released a new EP. loveritual is a stunning EP with 4 tracks that take under 15 minutes to listen through. On loveritual, bitterTV works with a sound much more ambitious, unique and impressive than what he showed off with his first, already pretty great New Season Screen EP. It is great seeing how much bitterTV has progressed as an artist since I first started listening to his music. Stream below and download at his bandcamp…
-PK
Of all the things electronic producers can do to distinguish themselves from the mass of other artists these days, simply having a huge amount of talent and being able to show that off works best. While his unique name might already do the job, Tortilla Pass has talent… a lot of it. On his song ‘Luna Tribe’, Tortilla Pass pulls sounds from Indian music that don’t go the glitched-out and blissful route of Gold Panda’s ‘You’ but are layered on much more delicately and create an all around chiller and warmer vibe.
Tortilla Pass- Luna Tribe:
Beyond that track, Tortilla Pass has a huge amount of beats on his soundcloud and even two releases on his bandcamp that have earned him a strong following. His sound is hard to pin down as he experiments with all sorts of samples and styles, creating stunning pieces almost every time. Stream his EP Aura Maura below…
-PK
