Author: TwirlyHatMatt
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Chill, Compilation, Mix | WhitneyAbstraKt – A Night With Leyla
Posted by admin on July 5, 2014
Curation is key. It is this fact alone that has allowed music streaming services such as Songza and Beats to be purchased for millions and millions of dollars this past year. And, it is this fact that keeps talented curators in the front of our minds and ears.
In the wake of endless singles, one-off radio hits, and all-around clutter in music it is nice to know that there are those out there that will spend tireless hours of their own time to bring a collection of the best music to your ears. Today, this glorious mix of tunes is brought to us by WhitneyAbstraKt in conjunction with Artistic Manifesto.
The mix is self-described as follows: “It’s a mild spring evening, the wind is gently blowing through her hair, and you’re out enjoying a night on the town. You have one thing in mind, but the night carries you in an entirely different direction. Before you know it, dawn has arrived and you realize that the entire night has been one hazy, disorienting, pleasurable blur. You just experienced “A Night With Leyla.” This is your soundtrack.”
Enjoy the eclectic musical stylings, and have a great Saturday night to accompany it.
Hip-Hop, Rap | Saba – Butter
Posted by admin on July 3, 2014
People who follow my postings on Fresh New Tracks, should not be surprised to see the name, Saba, appear. The straight-firing Chicago emcee has had a constant stream of music being released over the past few weeks, each song preparing listeners even more for the final body of work it fits in to.
“Butter” is his newest song and video, which flows from his mouth to your ears as smooth as –dare I say– butter. Saba touches on his family life, and other subjects close to the heart all while keeping the song positive and an enjoyable listen.
Stream the song below, and give the video a look here, if you’re interested.
Electro, Hip-Hop, Trap | Daytrip – Drop It (ft. 77Klash, Lil Silk, Yung Burrakami)
Posted by admin on June 26, 2014
Fresh off the plane from New York, New York, the Daytrip boys have arrived in Kingston, Jamaica. The production duo has returned with their second song, “Drop It”. The direction is undoubtedly different than their first smash “Flight 43”. There’s no use in trying to rationalize it, “Drop It” is a turn-up anthem, and a damn good one at that.
77Klash, Lil Silk, and Yung Burrakami are all called in to add their respective energies. Lil Silk’s verse is difficult to match, however, from start to finish Daytrip ensures their listeners a backdrop for any shenanigans they’ll be getting in to for the night. If you missed Daytrip’s beginning story, take a look.
Enough words, “how about we take twenty shots to the face?”
Hip-Hop, Rap | Black Zheep DZ – Mr. Slick
Posted by admin on June 20, 2014
Today I wanted to present to you the newest young emcee earning his keep in the DMV, Black Zheep DZ. He has performed alongside GoldLink, as well as starred in the “When I Die” music video. However, he is far more than a supporting role.
Just yesterday he dropped the newest single off of his forthcoming mixtape, 8th World. The song is called “Mr. Slick” — a self-proclaimed nickname for the 20 year old. Zheep has already made quite an impression in and around Maryland, so it’s only a matter of time before he finds his voice and is able to expand operations nationally.
In addition to “Mr. Slick”, Black Zheep also recently released a music video for his song, “Yesterdays”. A catchy, yet gritty, song that shows the direction Zheep plans to take his music. Accompanying the song is an incredibly well-done video by the fine people at Goodboy Media.
Electro, Hip-Hop, Mixtapes | YoAstrum – Alchemy In Heav3n (Mixtape)
Posted by admin on June 12, 2014
YoAstrum is no new-comer to Fresh New Tracks. Previous singles, “A Day’s Worth” and “Heav3n”, were a big hit with you all, making it only right to share the full length project, Alchemy In Heav3n. YoAstrum packs 13 tracks full of his signature beat selection and self-aware lyrics.
Personal favorites from the tape include the aforementioned, “Heav3n”, as well as the Lakim produced, “Jet Grind Radio”. Alchemy In Heav3n is viable and accepted across multiple genres and enumerable listeners. The forward-thinking production coupled with the melodic rap make the project a must listen.
To download the complete mixtape, head on over to Bandcamp.
Hip-Hop, Rap | Saba – Burnout (ft. Eryn Allen Kane)
Posted by admin on June 4, 2014
A few weeks back we brought you “401k” by Chicagoan, Saba. The song was a deep, dark, and raw hip-hop track. With “Burnout”, we see a different side of Saba. While he undoubtedly stays true to himself with meaningful story telling, he is also able to show a more upbeat and easily-digestible side of his music.
Each line has a languid feel to it, while still packing the punch it should. Eryn Allen Kane chimes in beautifully with each hook to round out an already impressive song.
“Burnout” has been floating around the internet for nearly two weeks already; don’t wait any longer to listen.
Alternative, Featured | Meet Great Good Fine Ok, Your Soundtrack to Summer
Posted by admin on June 2, 2014
By: Annie Dineen
If you’ve danced it out to a funky synth line, tested the limits of your shower’s resonance with high notes, or dabble in keytar solos, you’ll love Great Good Fine Ok. Made of creamy-smooth falsettos and hip-shaking synth beats you won’t need a degree in twerking to dance to, Great Good Fine OK is the indie-synth-pop ice cream bar dipped in R&B syrup that you’ll be craving all summer.
I spoke to the band before their show at Baby’s All Right, a colored light infused venue in Brooklyn replete with elaborate drawings spanning the walls and copper crocodiles carrying incandescent orbs in their mouths. The exuberant twenty-somethings, fresh off a few of their first shows ever at South by Southwest, were particularly excited to be opening for Tove Lo, the Swedish pop goddess whose affinity for black mesh shirts and eating dinner in bathtubs has met with massive recent success. “We’re both big fans of Tove Lo, we’ve been listening to a lot of her,” they tell me. “It’s funny cuz we actually are fans of her, we’re not just saying that.”
Great Good Fine OK is Jon Sandler and Luke Moellman, two Brooklynites who, despite growing up a town apart in upstate New York, didn’t meet until moving to Brooklyn. “We worked together on a couple musical projects, and I was saying some day we should write a song together and it just like, never happened for a while. Then one day we ran into each other on the street like after months of not seeing each other and we were like let’s do this, let’s write a song. That night he sent me the music to “You’re the One for Me” and the next day I wrote the lyrics and the melody to it, kinda sent it back and forth, and we were kinda like ‘oh shit, we have something here.’”
Though they often finish each other’s sentences, Jon taking the lead as they talk and Luke filling in to expand or clarify, when it comes to songwriting, they’d rather be far apart.
“We’re rarely in the same room when we write,” Jon says. “Luke is the producer/engineer and writes. The formula we’ve been working on is…” Luke picks up the slack. “I’ll like write the music to it, the instruments, everything, and then give it to Jon and he comes up with the melody and the lyrics and then sends it back and he’ll have comments about what I did and I’ll have comments about what he did. That’s sort of the formula, that’s what’s been working for us, and it’s really awesome because we both get to focus on what we feel like we’re best at.”
“It’s cool,” they say of their hyper-2014 digital songwriting sessions. “You can sort of turn off the part of your brain that’s really critical if there’s nobody else around.”
The sound that emerges is heavily pop, often compared to artists like Passion Pit or M83. I ask them to describe their sound. “I think the most accurate things people have said is that it’s like a mix between synth pop and R&B,” they tell me. “We’re using a lot of elements that are in Passion Pit and M83 and all these comparisons we’re getting. At the same time, I feel like we’re a little more influenced by more classic 70’s and 80’s.. Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson. So any description that combines those two worlds is really cool and it is really hard to verbalize.”
“Our favorite descriptor we got was that somebody called us ‘PBR Kelly’. Isn’t that amazing? We’ve talked about it a lot. I hope the people that wrote it know that we love it.”
I ask them what they’ve been listening to lately. “I have a car so I listen to a ton of top 40 radio, so I can tell you exactly what I like in the top 40 world,” Jon says, laughing. “I like that Paramore song “Ain’t It Fun,” I like the new Justin Timberlake jam [“Not A Bad Thing”] – it’s amazing! My favorite band in the world is Steely Dan, but you wouldn’t necessarily know that from the type of music we play.”
Dreams for the future? “I always say this and I think it bothers Luke,” Jon says. “But I would love to go on tour with a big pop artist like Lady Gaga, somebody like that who does kind of artistic things within the pop. Does it bother you?” Luke retains a stoic poker face. “I always say Lady Gaga because like while she writes pop songs and she’s like on Top 40 radio, I feel like it’s how in that respect she’s kind of trying to be creative, not just in the confines of a pop machine.”
“It would be extravagant. Lights, smoke, maybe some fire. Fire mostly shooting out of Luke’s instruments.”
Luke laughs. “I’m beginning to warm to the idea. No pun intended.”
So start practicing your #bodydiamond (no, they did not explain), and get ready to fall in love with the infectious groove of Great Good Fine OK. With or without pyrotechnics, they’re lighting a spark in the pop scene.