After a successful first series, featuring the likes of Mark Ronson, Toddla T and Diplo, The Producers returns for a second run. The show is a joint venture between Red Bull Studios London and VICE Media and explores the unique artistic process between musician and producer. While last year’s cast list seemed hard to top, the team behind The Producers have again assembled a stellar list of music’s current elite.
The first episode saw one third of Magnetic Man and Dubstep A-lister Benga join forces with Youngman on a track for Benga’s forthcoming solo album. Then in episode two The Bullitts – whose current list of previous collaborators includes Jay Electronica, Idris Elba and Lucy Lui – hooks up with the Grammy award winning Syience.
In the latest episode South London protégé Kwes, who has previously worked with The xx, rounds up the likes of Dels, Ghostpoet and Micahcu to collaborate in the studio. Predictably, the results are outstanding. To hear what went on, check out the trailer above and see the full episode here.
Keep an eye out for future episodes, featuring Starsmith and Mike Skinner.
Two of the most blogged about US female artists of the moment have joined forces for a three date mini UK tour that began at London’s Heaven last Wednesday.
South Dakota born Erika M. Anderson, better known as EMA, was formerly part of folk-rock band Gowns, but decided to go solo and explore a rawer guitar-rock side. She practically played in full her debut ‘Past Life Martyred Saint’, a strong contender to feature high in many best of 2011 lists, with confident manner that brought to mind the style of contemporary rock icons such as Karen O or girl-fronted grunge bands of the 90’s.The album’s standout track, ‘California’, was the encore in a set that more than satisfied all her fans in the English capital.
But it was Russian-American vocalist Nika Roza Danilova the one that seemed to have attracted a larger part of the audience and ultimately stole the show with her intense and atmospheric Goth-pop. Zola Jesus has been in the hipster’s radar for the last three years. Her recent third studio album, ‘Conatus’, has taken her career to new heights. Live, she surrounds herself by two synth players and an electric drummer, adding a noticeable 80’s touch to her atmospheric sounds and intensely emotional vocals. ‘Night’; ‘Vessel’ and ‘Collapse’, in the middle of which the singer descended from the stage and wandered among the public, were among the show’s highlights.
Alltogether, they offered two interesting and diverse musical propositions making an excellent night of live music.
American lo-fi producer John Maus has been putting out music for the past 20 years. His third solo studio album ‘We Must Become The Pitiless Censors Of Ourselves’ (Ribbon) sees the former Ariel Pink and Animal Collective collaborator come up with some of his most accessible material to date.
Here Maus creates lush arrangements of swirling synthesisers, primitive drum patterns and seductive melody lines, sewn together with ethereal tape-echo vocals. His love of analogue production is certainly comparable with former partner Pink’searlier material – both fusing elements of 60’s psychedelia, 70’s P-funk and 80’s electronica.
Tonight he takes to the stage with only a microphone in his hand and a laptop (providing only a backing track) on the floor. As he launches into opening track ‘Quantum Leap’ his body starts to convulse and shake as if performing some sort of shamanic ritual. The crowd reciprocate and start to mirror Maus, air punching and head banging their way through the set that includes new favourites ‘Believer’ and ‘Cop Killer’.
While there’s no doubt Maus is a unique talent and a captivating performer, tonight’s performance left us wondering how much better it would have sounded with a full line up of musicians. In the case of Maus & Pink, the latter’s live band Haunted Graffiti has been a welcome progression, with their refinement of Pink’s earlier work. Here Maus seems to be trying to convey something more primal, but currently this live show doesn’t give his latest release the justice it deserves.
Professor Green’s been flying high in recent months. The rapper’s latest single, ‘Read All About It’, featuring Emeli Sandé, entered the UK national chart at number one at the end of October, while his new album has also gone top 10. This recent success has all come together after years of hard graft. Building up his profile on the British rap / grime scene, Pro Green’s fame has risen steadily over the past four years as he’s worked more obvious pop influences into his aggressive rapping style. He’s now considered one of the UK’s most lucrative urban music artists and is starting to gain recognition overseas thanks to hook ups with stars like Snoop Dogg on the track ‘Be Like Me’.
The folks at Professor Green’s label have been kind enough to hand us a free track for Shazamers. All you need to do is click here.
The track is a bass rattling remix of ‘Read All About It’ by Mensah, one of a new breed of producers taking bass dubstep into the world of rave.
To listen and buy Professor Green’s latest album from iTunes, simply click here.
Harry Potter star Tom Felton, who played Draco Malfoy in the movie series, has well and truly graduated from Hogwarts. The British actor, who starred in all eightof the Harry Potter movies, is trying his hand at music after signing a deal with independent label Six Strings Production last year. Tom Felton has spoken of his desire to enter the UK grime scene, but debut single Hawaii is a world away from the gritty world of London rap.
Hawaii features Tom singing in an undeniably British accent in a way that sounds unnatural and forced. The song’s main focus is Felton’s distinct vocal, which is supported by an acoustic guitar and piano. The lyrics speak of the dismal weather outside and how Tom wishes he could be relaxing in sunnier climes – namely Hawaii. The simple verse and easy melody suggest that Felton’s first foray into music was probably a result of the jamming sessions that he is said to enjoy with his band and not the result of a burning desire to channel his creative juices.
If Hawaii is an indicator of what is to come musically from Tom Felton than I think it’s safe to say his fans will prefer him on the big screen. Tom Felton is next up in movie blockbuster Rise of the Planet Of The Apes alongside James Franco and Frieda Pinto, and hopefully the movie theatre is where he will remain.
At a casual glance, the popular music scene is filled with many diverse artists and acts, all producing different kinds of music, with seemingly little crossover. Dig a little deeper and you find that, actually, it’s riddled with overachieving lunatics who perform in multiple groups, under multiple guises, and can’t possibly ever sleep.
Jack White is a good example of one of those. Devonté Hynes is another. Dev first slammed onto the stage with dance punk-funk noise moshers, Test Icicles. Though the band had a relatively short career (forming in 2004 and splitting in 2006), they made a huge impact on the alternative music scene at the time. Dev played guitar and synths and occasionally sang for the group, but once they split – after releasing only one long player, ‘For Screening Purposes Only’ – Dev continued writing music under his new alter-ego, Lightspeed Champion. With a calmer, more lo-fi orchestral indie-pop direction, Lightspeed Champion released two critically acclaimed albums – ‘Falling Off The Lavender Bridge’ and ‘Life is Sweet! Nice to Meet You’ on Domino Records.
Dev’s latest project is Blood Orange, whose debut album ‘Coastal Grooves’ is due out on 8 August on Domino, and has a distinctly sleazy-electro funk pop and 80s sound. Read more…
Lesbians kissing, throwing eggs at bystanders and cruising on a mobility scooter aren’t the normal elements of a rap video, but Pusha T and Tyler, The Creator synchronize all of these with the backing to Pusha’s latest track. Trouble On My Mind is the track from Pusha featuring Tyler from Odd Future. Tyler has admitted he is a huge fan of Pusha and Clipse, and the enthusiasm and admiration shows with their light hearted energy throughout the video.
The song is produced by The Neptunes, long time friends and producers of Pusha and one of Tyler’s most proclaimed influences. The track has classic 808 kicks and a crispy snare overlapped by a sinister synth that swoops up and down throughout. A rich sounding organ riff appears at the beginning and end of the song and a muted horn makes an appearance taking inspiration from Pusha’s previous mixtape. The general sound fits into Tyler’s ‘Goblin’ material and Pusha’s last release ‘Fear Of God’, the song is a direction of the two together. A mean collaboration of two of Hip-Hop’s most wanted characters at the moment, which doesn’t disappoint.
Pusha T’s next project ‘Fear Of God Part 2: Let Us Pray’ is expected soon and features this song. Still touring and in high demand for interviews, Tyler’s debut studio album Goblin is out now. Watch the video for ‘Trouble On My Mind’ here.
After releasing mixtape’s to the hip-hop world in America since 2007, Big Sean’s debut album has finally been released and the rapper has respectfully claimed his title for fame and honour. Sean, real name Sean Michael Anderson, met Kanye West in 2005 and impressed him with a spontaneous freestyle, Kanye made note to remember his name. A few years later with mixtapes achieving hundreds of thousands of downloads on Datpiff, Sean was signed to Kanye’s G.O.O.D Music record label.
The album boasts production from Kanye West, iconic producer No I.D., Boi-1da and others including Pharrell. The stand-out tracks are undoubtedly those created by No I.D. including ‘I Do It’, ‘Don’t Tell Me You Love Me’ and ‘So Much More’. Sean worked with Chris Brown on the single ‘My Last’ which reached #4 in the Shazam Tag Charts back in March this year. The collaboration with Kanye on ‘Marvin & Chardonnay’ sees Sean work with Roscoe Dash, who delivers a classic Roscoe sing-a-long hook. With tracks like these the album received glowing reviews from Hip-Hop’s top platforms including an “XL” from XXL magazine.
Sean’s lyrical content has been better in past mixtapes, but his humour continues to amuse and there are occasional sparks of top word play that ignite with the solid beats creating up-tempo, strong, soulful tracks. The album’s other featured artists include Wiz Khalifa, The Dream, Lupe Fiasco, Chiddy-Bang and John Legend and is available to buy now.
The latest release by Lil’ Wayne, prior to his next album ‘Carter IV’, is a slow love song mixed between acoustic guitars and soft 808 drums. The rapper ditches his usual grungy rap voice and takes to the whole song with sincere vocals, topped off with an underline of auto-tune to correct his sharp notes. It’s when the song hits halfway that the track really exposes its lurking possibility. A key-change by Wayne, a mature drum pattern emerges and harmonic strings add a deep, relaxing complexion in the song as a whole.
The feedback has been generally positive but has been a shock to some of Weezy’s Hip-Hop fans, creating a demand to stick to the hard, cursing lyrics they are attuned to. Although, not many people were expecting a rock album which Wayne released a few years back. Lil’ Wayne constantly shows signs of an artist undeniably open to opportunities and new ventures, a trait that many artists sadly lack. Weezy has come out on top with this and the love endorsed lyrics and repetitive guitar has attracted him to a new crowd and now has the single steadily climbing the iTunes chart.
The second single released from DJ Khaled’s fifth album ‘I’m On One’ features close friends to Kahled; Drake, Rick Ross and Lil’ Wayne. The song showcases Khaled’s diverse production skills and is a far cry from his usual horn filled anthems. A filtered chorus sung softly over by Drake while his attacking lyrics focus on newcomers to the Hip-Hop game and their naivety of their careers. Not normally one to create sparks; it appears a few people have certainly made a negative impression on Drake. Ross speaks with recognisable lyrics at a slow tempo and with less attitude than normal and Young Money affiliate Weezy keeps it short and sweet with a husky, lazy vocal.
The track sounds like Khaled has been working with one of Drake’s producer’s ‘40’, as it could have easily fit on Drake’s first mixtape ‘So Far Gone’ heavily produced by 40 and filled with slow, harmonic and filtered sounds. The team featured on this track have all worked together in the past and their chemistry is a welcome one to fans. DJ Khaled’s latest album ‘We The Best Forever’ is expected, with much anticipation, this June with a huge array of featured artists.
