Bizarre takes on UK hip-hop by an elusive, idiosyncratic crew from East London. Wild rooftop parties during Occupy. Buds with Klein. Smoke machines lent by Dean Blunt. What’s not to be curious about?
More about: TTY
YG 4REAL 4REAL
Styles: Crenshaw, Alameda
Others: Mac Dre, Too Short, RIP Nipsey, DJ Mustard
As a document of a city, Los Angeles is endlessly fascinating. It takes all manner of people to come together and live there, crashing against a vast, sprawling empire of a domain. With that in mind, it is a city with gangs, with tribes and cohorts banding for commonalities within each other. There are actual criminal gangs too, and YG belongs to one. In fact, it’s one of the biggest, most illicit groups in the world. It’s an L.A. way of life.
More about: YG
Carly Rae Jepsen Dedicated
Styles: needy, haunted pop
Others: Annie, Robyn, Lorde, Sade (seriously, hear me out…)
Carly Rae Jepsen embodies a pop ideal so quaint and so counter to the perceived wisdom of being famous in 2019 that she’s often looked upon as something of a unicorn: a singer whose reputation is premised on the merits of her work rather than her brand of politics or IG-ready cool. There are structural factors at play as well: shifts in streaming and the primacy of rap, the triumph of poptimism and genre-less new stars, but none are exhaustive in explaining her unique cult of non-personality.
More about: Carly Rae Jepsen
Favorite Rap Mixtapes of May 2019 From Gaika & Jaya to Chris Crack & 10k.caash
From Gaika & Jaya to Chris Crack & 10k.caash
With a cascade of releases spewing from the likes of DatPiff, LiveMixtapes, Bandcamp, and SoundCloud, it can be difficult to keep up with the overbearing yet increasingly vital mixtape game. In this column, we aim to immerse ourselves in this hyper-prolific world and share our favorite releases each month. The focus will primarily be on rap mixtapes — loosely defined here as free (or sometimes free-to-stream) digital releases — but we’ll keep things loose enough to branch out if/when we feel it necessary.
More about: 10k.caash, Akai Solo, Bjarne B, Chris Crack, Gaika, Jaya, Johnny Cinco, Moneybagg Yo, SIR E.U
Related
column
Favorite Rap Mixtapes of October 2019
Scam rap, UK drill, and a relentless indictment of damn near everything
column
Favorite Rap Mixtapes of April 2019
From Rico Nasty & POTHEAD to Supa Bwe & Slauson Malone
News
MUTEK announces first wave of artists for second edition of San Francisco festival
Nyege Nyege Tapes release singeli producer Sisso’s debut album, Mateso
Anyone familiar with the unparalleled output from Nyege Nyege Tapes over the last few years — releases from Jay Mitta, Bamba Pana, and the heavy-hitting comp Sounds of Sisso, for example — should be aware of the rapid-fire dance music style out of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania called singeli. But hey, if you haven’t yet been acquainted to the future (and why would you? It is the present, after all), I have great news: there’s never been a better time than now!
More about: Sisso
Rosalía shares new song “Aute Cuture” with flamboyant video
Damn, it’s almost summer already? I seem to have misplaced all my summer jams in my extensive spring cleaning process… Oh thank god, here’s one just in time: a bubbly new hit from Spanish pop superstar Rosalía called “Aute Cuture.” So haute!
This new track has everything you need for the seasonal transition: an instantly jammable hook, flamenco flair, and a flashy new video with the classic Cinemascope aspect ratio! Here’s what Rosalía has to say about her latest:
More about: Rosalía
Lower Dens return to perfect the human political condition with new song “Young Republicans” from their fourth album
Where are the people that you love?! Are they nearby? Across oceans? Go find them, hurry! Stare deep into their eyes. Do not avert from what you find there. See the immensity of them, mind body and soul! THIS is what you need to do to prepare yourself for what I’m about to tell you!
Lower Dens have just shared a new music video for a new song called “Young Republicans” off their upcoming fourth full-length album, The Competition. Don’t click play yet though, because you truly aren’t ready for what Jana Hunter is about to do to your mind, body, and soul.
More about: Lower Dens
Burial resurrects himself for new 12-inch, “Claustro/State Forest,” on Hyperdub
My dad called me earlier today and said, “Hey, JasonC, you ever heard of this Burial guy?”
I replied, “Uh, yeah, dad. He’s only one of the figureheads of Hyperdub and the post-dubstep scene. He only released one of the most influential electronic albums of the 21st century. DUH!”
After a few more minutes of berating my father’s lack of keeping up with the blogs, we agreed we’d catch up another time, after I had a chance to “cool off.”
More about: Burial
Emily A. Sprague Water Memory / Mount Vision
Styles: away from metaphor, how to being, inside my chest
Others: Sarah Davachi, H. Takahashi, r beny
Is there water in my heart? I am interested in biology, not metaphor. I crave an exactness of fluidity, an aquamarine proof of me. I want to know if there is moisture on the walls and in the lines and through the chambers of my heart.
For selfish reasons, I will not turn to any search bar or database for answers.
For selfish reasons, I want to wonder if there is water in my heart.
Satie, a composer, wrote in a poem called “The Swing”:
It is my heart that swings
so.
More about: Emily A. Sprague
PAN announce the second LP by the collaborative Lifted ensemble, share its first fragment “Now More Than Ever”
In 2015, Berlin-run PAN released Lifted: a gorgeously unconventional, bicontinental collaboration spearheaded by Matt Papich (a.k.a. Co La) and Future Times’ Max D. With the help of Dawit Eklund of 1432 R, Motion Graphics, Jeremy Hyman, Jordan GCZ (Juju & Jordash), and Gigi Masin; the pair concocted a strikingly seamless, improvised fusion of wispy laptop ambient, jazzy percussive waterfalls, and prancing techno with academically-minded experimentalism lurking in the background.
More about: Lifted
Related
Most Read
Newsfeed
1
Foot Village shares details of new album on Northern Spy
2
John Peel’s record collection soon to be made available online as virtual museum… those poor BBC interns
3
LISTEN: XXX
- Love Potion
4
clipping. release a 24-hour song, acapella tracks, and a remix album
5