Who? Sampa The Great
What? ‘OMG’
Where? Australia/Zambia
What they say? Sampa the Great announces her debut album “The Return” along with brand new single and video ‘OMG’ –
On ‘OMG’, she addresses ideas of ‘home’ through the exploration of her African heritage: “I personally feel that people on the continent have a duty to our family in the diaspora, to re-teach our culture, language, spirituality, ways and return our peeps to ourselves,” she explains. “To me ‘OMG’ sounds like the songs we heard in our childhood. It’s broadly about flexing your culture! Loving where you’re from and even being shocked at the realisation of not knowing how dope it is to be ‘who you are’.”
Why we love it? Frenetic and vital, skirting the lines of pop music and African rhythms. With its skittering beats and rapid fire refrains its a powerful addictive reaffirmation of your culture and your spirit. Infectious, fierce, multicultural and glorious.(BC)
FFO: Janelle Monae, M.I.A, Noname
Who? Drab Majesty
What? ‘Oxytocin’
Where? LA
What they say? Blowing the dust off the antiquarian Greek myth of Ovid’s “Narcissus”, Drab Majesty use its premise as groundwork for a modern reinterpretation. Each song on the record tells a piece of the story in which the listener’s own self-identity has become warped and dissociated through rapidly expanding technology, losing touch with the origins of their own personalities.
Even when hope for everlasting love peeks through in “Oxytocin”, a sparkling and stoic track sung by Mona D., we are firmly reminded our fleeting existence.
Why we love it? The exquisitely crafted, dreamy sonisphere that Drab Majesty have birthed is something to behold. ‘Oxytocin’ soars above the earth, crusing the skies whilst remaining firmly planted to the gothic nature of it’s dark lyricism and it’s distant, lo fi atmospherics. Referencing bands like The Cure and New Order, the track is a euphoric marriage of synth pop and shoegaze. (NK)
FFO: The Cure, New Order, The Soft Moon
Who? Scrounge
What? ‘Purpose’
What they say? Scrounge is still Lucy and Luke. They are guitar, drums and a mic. The two members met at Goldsmiths, and immediately threw themselves into South London’s fertile DIY arts scene with a number of projects. Eventually, these coalesced into Fame Throwa Records, an underground music and promotions collective operating predominantly around the Five Bells venue, and, most recently, the intense, genre-blending post-punk of Scrounge.
Why we love it? Urgent and off-kilter, tangled detuned guitars spinning out of control, punctuated by busy baselines and stinging percussive shifts that stops, starts and screeches like being in the middle of a busy traffic snarl up. Menacing yet joyful vocal yelps, disappearing down the plughole, there’s no purpose you might be lost but this sounds fantastic.(BC)
FFO: Sonic Youth, Shellac, The Kills
https://helloscrounge.bandcamp.com/album/purpose
Who? Seb Wildblood
What? ‘Sketches’
Where? London
What they say? With the release of his debut LP impending, South London producer, DJ and label boss Seb Wildblood has today shared the final taster of his eagerly anticipated full-length. ‘small talk’ sees Wildblood harking back to his roots, showcasing his trademark, meticulously crafted, dreamy deep house. The single features on his forthcoming album ‘sketches of transition’, which is out 26th July via all my thoughts.
“Music is a way of escape for me, I want the listener to be able to use this record as a form of escape too,” says Wildblood. “I guess I’ve had a sudden realization of how transient life can be. I hope the record captures this in some way. Sonically it’s dynamic, constantly shifting however there’s an undercurrent that remains the same throughout the whole piece. Each track on the record focuses on and is inspired by a moment in time.”
Why we love it? Ambient, textured and enveloping. This precise, smooth yet undulating slice of electronica could soundtrack a new Netflix drama or the sun garnishing the pavements.(BC)
Who? Blue Amber
What? ‘Hinterland Girls’
Where? Cardiff
What they say? Blue Amber initially began as my bedroom project, with a range of stylistic influences, including Indie Folk, Beat Poetry and Instrumental Hip Hop.
‘Hinterland Girls’ is the first result of new studio sessions with producer Henry Simm, who has worked with Bloom! And recorded live sessions for Aleighcia Scott and The Pitchforks. It stems from a fascination with T.S. Eliot’s The Wasteland and memories of nightlife in Aberystwyth, with an instrumental inspired by Kendrick Lamar’s Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City.
Why we love it? A DIY patchwork of beats and sighing samples. A journey into the underbelly of the city, an existential stream of conciousness that blurs hip hop and the spoken word. An intriguing blend of the ambient, indie and hip hop musical references. Excellent polemic that seers itself onto the soul, the sound of grim realisation at 2am. (BC)
FFO: Scroobius Pip, Kendrick Lamar, Lupen Crook, Los Campesinos
Who? Remington Super 60
What? ‘The Highway Again’
Where? Norway
What they say? This is the first single from our upcoming EP TBA fall 2019, and is released our own label Cafe Superstar Recordings. The song is inspired by our many road trips around Norway surrounded by fjords and mountains.
Why we love it? Majestic and twinkling with a pretty wistfulness, a telescopic keyboard motif gently ushering in guitar washes and tender harmonies. Gorgeous.(BC)
FFO: The Beach Boys, Velvet Underground, Stereolab, Yo La Tengo
Who? Party Hardly
What? ‘Rats In the Kitchen’
Where? Leeds
What they say? “Rats In The Kitchen is a metaphor for the demonization of young people by the older generation”, states frontman Tom Barr. “Throughout history these views have seldom changed, with the irony being that our grandparents would have viewed our parents in exactly the same light. Also, we had rats in our kitchen this one time”.
Why we love it? A brilliantly brash piece of Northern punk that disscets the youth/elder divide with accuracy and urgency. (NK)
FFO: Sports Team, The Magic Gang,
Who? Goon
What? ‘Black Finch’
Where? LA
What they say? They’ve a cult following in Los Angeles, with their debut record oozing out the speakers into a crusty grunge behemoth. Definetely one to check if into the aforementioned bands, Metz, Elliot Smith, lo-fi freak folk and the sounds of 90’s slacker radio.
Why we love it? Channeling the psychedelic vibe of bands like Ulrika Spacek and Young Husband, ‘Black Finch’ crawls and morphs into an dark rock anthem with earthly folk undertones. Top notch stuff. (NK)
FFO: Ulrika Spacek, Younghusband, Elliot Smith
