EPHWURD BRINGS OLD SCHOOL TO THE NEW AGE WITH “FUNCTION” FT. ONEEVA
Tricky Shares Music Video For ‘New Stole’ (Feat. Francesca Belmonte)
The video was produced and directed by Indexthumb and features Francesca Belmonte, laden with molten wax effects and dark motifs relating directly to the lyrical inspiration of the song – and indeed more tangentially to the imagery of Tricky’s musical career to date.
Director Indexthumb adds: “The animation evokes the idea of someone who will only ever let you get so close, shapeshifting playfully, before melting away before your eyes.”
The record, conceived in Moscow and completed in Tricky’s new home of Berlin, is a delicate, storming, intricate album which sees Tricky take perhaps his most radical step yet – a journey into happiness and contentment, and an attempt to answer the question, “what does Tricky sound like?”.
Francesca Belmonte adds: “This song is about a baptism of fire. It’s about acknowledging your trauma, facing it, embracing it, loving it and letting it go. It’s about coming out the other side having done the work, changed forever, for better or worse. It’s about knowing yourself and moving on.”
DECEMBER 2017 SHOWS
13/12/17 ISLINGTON ASSEMBLY HALL London UK *SOLD OUT*
15/12/17 ÉLYSÉE MONTMARTRE Paris FR
16/12/17 LA LAITERIE (GRANDE SALLE) Strasbourg FR
19/12/17 HET DEPOT Leuven BE
20/12/17 REFLEKTOR Liège BE *SOLD OUT*
Full list of upcoming shows as well as tickets are available here.
Watch the video for ‘New Stole‘ below.
Listen to Bicep’s BBC Radio 1 Essential Mix
Last Friday saw Bicep take the reins of the BBC Radio 1 Essential Mix, adding some extra shine on a
watershed twelve months for the Ninja Tune-signed duo. With the dust still settling around their landmark debut album, the iconic mix series ties off a success-studded year for the Belfast-born, London-based duo. It features an exclusive track by Hammer (forthcoming on their Feel My Bicep imprint), several unreleased Bicep edits, as well as cuts from Norwell, CJ Bolland and Fantastic Man. They explain the idea behind the mix: “We’ve both got fond memories of long car journeys spent listening to the Essential Mix. For our contribution, we wanted to do something different to our normal club sets: exploring the influences behind our album and touching on genres we wouldn’t normally be able to play out.”
Releasing their self-titled debut in September, the album runs rich with the warmth of club music’s
halcyon days and is a perfect distillation of a sound that’s been honed over a decade-long career. ‘Bicep’ has been heralded as one of the best-realised dance music albums of 2017 which went in at #20 in the UK album charts. The record was framed by impeccable design across the campaign from Portuguese collective Royal Studio. On it, they channel a many-sided, personal gamut of club music influences – including (but not limited to) house, garage, ambient and breakbeat – into an album that’s as innovative as it is well-schooled in music, successfully striking that elusive sweet spot: making dancefloor-minded creations that work just as well for home listening.
Inaugurating their stellar live show at Coachella, they toured it to sell-out venues in LA, New York, Japan, across Europe and played the world’s most revered festival stages including Pitchfork Paris,
Glastonbury, Dekmantel, Melt! and Primavera. They sold out Village Underground in just 3 minutes,
Electric Brixton in 24 hours, with a Roundhouse show in April 2018 close to sold out too. Bicep have
been announced in the first wave of acts for Sonar, are taking the live show across Australia and already have a packed diary for 2018.
Praise was heaped on ‘Bicep’ by The Guardian, Pitchfork and Resident Advisor, along with gracing
the front cover and extensive feature in Mixmag. Radio 1’s Annie Mac has championed all three singles ‘Aura’, ‘Glue’, ‘Vale’ and new track ‘Metro’ extensively, along with inviting them on to perform a prestigious Maida Vale session while Pete Tong made ‘Metro’ his Essential New Tune. The album was BBC 6 Music’s Album of the Day, where ‘Glue’ reached the B list and ‘Vale’ is currently on the A list.
It’s fair to say it’s been an incredible year, cementing Bicep’s clear-eyed vision of dance music’s limitless possibilities. Listen to Bicep’s Essential Mix here.
Tour dates:
Dec
14 Jaeger, Oslo, NO
18 Rise Festival, Les Deux Alps, FR (DJ)
21 Mondo, Madrid, ES
22 Contrair, Antwerp, BE
23 Modular at Maasilo, Rotterdam, NL
30 Oval Space, London, UK
31 Stealth / Nottingham, UK
Feb
1 FMB at Electric Garden, Galway, Ireland (DJ)
2 FMB at District 8, Dublin, Ireland
3 FMB at Shine, Belfast, UK
March
2 Oxford Art Factory, Sydney, AU
3 Max Watts, Melbourne, AU
9 TBC Club, Brisbane, AU
10 Days Like This, Sydney, AU
11 Pitch Festival, Moyston, AU
April
1 Terminal V, Edinburgh, UK (DJ)
12 Snowbombing, Mayrhofen, AT
28 Roundhouse, London, UK
May
3 Paradiso, Amsterdam, NL
6 AMP Lost & Found Fest, Malta (DJ)
June
1 AVA Festival, Belfast, UK (DJ)
15 Sonar Festival, Barcelona, ES
Get your tickets here.
Maya Jane Coles releases latest music video ‘Darkside’
London based award-winning DJ/producer/artist, Maya Jane Coles has just made a prodigious comeback with the release of her latest music video ‘Darkside’, directed by celebrated art direction team, The Fashtons.
Despite only being 24, Maya Jane Coles continues to impress her fans exceptional work. She has mixed compilations for DJ Kicks and Fabric Live, remixed The XX, Ella Fitzgerald, Bonobo, as well as being sampled for Nicki Minaj’s mega hit ‘Truffle Butter’. The artist does not end her success there, she is also leading campaigns for favoured British footwear and clothing brand Doc Martens.
The Fashtons (Ben Ashton and Fiona Garden) have directed her phenomenal previous video for ‘Weak’ that has garnered 139,630 views on YouTube and over 42,100 plays on Soundcloud. Working on the latest video ‘Darkside’, The Fashtons return to create the next chapter working alongside a team of close friend artists (Natalia Latyszonek, Rachel Freire, Georgie Bee and Kristina Vidic). ‘Darkside’ consists of striking, illusive polyhedric shapes in which a ‘Blank Conscious Being’ tries on masks of the faces of those who live in Maya’s waking world. He based the masks that we see throughout the video on portraits of people who Maya has collaborated with.
Ben Ashton explains his use of the Polyhedron environment in the video: “Polyhedric shapes are beautifully simple but remarkably stable structures - the perfect blend of art and mathematics. The polyhedron we used in this project is called an Icosidodecahedron. I’m particularly drawn to the star shapes that you can see around the pentagons, and if you look at it from a different angle you can see a skull shape.”
Watch ‘Darkside’ here:
Noya Rao releases new single ‘Golden Claw’
Purveyors of enigmatic dreamscapes and organic, danceable electronica, Leeds based, electronic soul quartet Noya Rao released their debut album, Icaros, this November.
KONGSTED’s latest single ‘Get Away’ is packed with tight, percussive beats
‘Get Away’ is the latest single and offering by Danish DJ and producer KONGSTED released on 1st December via Universal Music. The track is a fresh, summer-fueled, anthemic hit brushing off any cold reminders that come with December’s frigid clutch. KONGSTED has been a prominent gear in the Danish DJ scene for as long as twelve years and counting, who has won several awards to date, most noticeably; Club DJ of The Year, Danish Deejay Favorite Of The Year, Dancechart.dk Award and The Voice Clubbing Award, which he was nominated for four consecutive years in a row, winning in both 2010 & 2011.
With career propelling hits such as ‘Chuck Norris’ which has garnered over 10 million Spotify streams and has gone 2x Platinum in sales, the Platinum-selling single ‘Whine Dat’, and a gold-certified single titled ‘Wild Child’ featuring fellow Danish musician Cisilia.
KONGSTED has received substantial support after being handpicked by acclaimed international DJs such as Pete Tong, AVICII, Tiesto and Martin Garrix during their trips to Denmark. Filling a residency at Copenhagen-based nightclub ZEN, KONGSTED has also been deemed an official DJ for the prestigious nightclub network The World’s Finest Clubs, and has been requested at renowned clubs all around Europe, some of which include: Just Cavalli (Milano), Club Hollywood (Milano), Byblos (Milano), Carpe Diem (Barcelona), Gibson (Frankfurt) and NoX (Oslo). With a busy schedule ahead of him and more than a handful of singles in the pipeline, KONGSTED is excited to bring new music to fans worldwide.
KONGSTED’s latest single ‘Get Away’ is packed with tight, energetic and percussive beats, steamy pop-guitar hooks, glowing textures and steady basslines synchronized to an excitement-soaked groove. Group chants are vital here, with compliments to the rhythm provided by vocalist Ida Kudo, rapper Peaceful James and AO who all feature as guests on the track, embracing it’s rich, seductive atmosphere, just enough to make you forget all about winter’s withdrawn woes.
Smino releases video for ‘Anita (Remix ft. T-Pain)
Smino and T-Pain are a dynamic crooning duo, both with a taste for coloUrful fashion that’s on full display in the “Anita” remix video. The original version of “Anita” was the lead single on Smino’s debut album, blkswn, which released earlier this year. Smino performed in direct support of T-Pain on his acoustic tour last month, where the iconic Atlanta singer has been calling the rising St. Louis-bred, Chicago-based artist back to the stage during his own closing set for a performance of the remix, which Smino previously shared video of on Instagram. With the “Anita” remix video, Smino’s also unveiled a new line of Zero Fatigue clothing.
Smino’s owned 2017. His blkswn album has earned continued critical praise, having neared the top of many best of (so far) lists that came at the year’s halfway point. Following the album, he headlined his own North America tour in April-May, with support from his fellow Zero Fatigue crew members Monte Booker, Bari, and Jay2. His opening spot on T-Pain’s acoustic tour this month came at an opportune time during a break on SZA’s Ctrl. tour, where Smino has also been performing as the direct support act, backed by a full band and backing singers.
KAIXEN releases album Pecado + new single ‘Wasting Time’ featuring Dvwez & Native Youth
No stranger to the music scene, Julian Munro aka KAIXEN hails from a musical family and trained as a contemporary jazz guitarist, playing in various bands in the past. He forfeited a full economics major scholarship in order to pursue his music career – a decision he must be glad to have made.
He has received substantial support from tastemaker publications such as BBC 1xtra’s Jamz Supernova, Majestic Casual, The Fader, Run The Trap, Clash, and Indie Shuffle among others. Rightfully so as he has shared stages with the likes of Crywolf, Sango and Tim Gunter opening for Joan Jett and Two Door Cinema Club and headlining at the 2016 III Points Music Festival and Okeechobee Music Festival.
He now releases his new album. Entitled Pecado meaning “sin” in Spanish and Portuguese, the name perfectly sums up the hypnotic and tempting nature of the album. The self-produced record features collaborations with experimental hip hop and R&B artists such as Twelve’Len, MRKI, Austin Paul, Christian Rivero, The Loft, Savannah Cristina, Dvwez & Native Youth and Silk Matthews.
His previously released singles off the album were ‘In Private’ and ‘Brand New’ telling stories of love and lust while reflecting on personal affairs. Similarly is ‘Wasting Time’ featuring Dvwez & Native Youth. More laid back than the previous two tracks, the sax-tainted song is a duet between the two vocalists in which Native Youth takes the lead.
KAIXEN had this to say about Pecado: “I hear everything a certain way and have an exact feel of how I want things to be. This whole album was really inspired by growth, but growth in doing things we know are wrong. I feel like life tests you, you can make the worst decisions in a given situation and it can stunt or catapult your growth.”
Pecado Tracklist:
1 – What You Think ft. Silk Matthews
2 – Just Like You ft. Austin Paul
3 – Locking Eyes ft. Cristian Rivero
4 – Brand New ft. Twelve’Len
5 – Wasting Time ft. Dvwez & Native Youth
6 – Through You
7 – Unfamiliar Energy ft. Savannah Cristina
8 – Survive ft. The Loft
9 – In private ft. MRKI
10 – Constellation In The Sky
11 – Run Away
Follow KAIXEN:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kaixenmusic
Twitter: https://twitter.com/lemonadeplayboy
Soundcloud: http://soundcloud.com/kaixen
Instagram: http://instagram.com/kaixen__
Spotify: http://spoti.fi/2h9nFfR
Cimo Fränkel shares debut solo-single ‘Never Give Up’
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cimofrankel/
Yaeji shares ‘Drink I’m Sipping On’ ahead of EP release
Earlier this year she released her debut EP pairing her deft vocal abilities with her electronic production which garnered a lot online attention. She further made waves with her summer remix of Drake’s ‘Passionfruit.’
South Korean DJ and singer Yaeji is back with EP2 set to drop 3 November comprised of 5 new tracks including her version of Passionfruit.
Previous singles such as ‘Guap’ and ‘Last Breath’ she boasts a unique flow sounding much like rap easily switching between Korean and English.
She released her latest single off the EP ‘drink I’m sipping on’ along with the visuals in which Yaeji sports an oversized blazer with the words ‘Drink’ on the back. She has traded in her signature four-on-the-floor style for a trap beat embracing her inclination towards hip hop. Floating over the drums, she takes a laidback approach to personal failure and conflicted memories. It’s clear that she is on the “electro watch list” for this year – and it seems every other genre’s as she experiments with various styles.
Yaeji plays a number of shows at selected dates around the release of the EP: Paris (November 2nd), Los Angeles (November 4th) and Seoul (November 11th).
Check out ‘drink I’m sipping on’ below, perhaps it’s passionfruit: