So it’s the last Future Flavours of the year and I could have done the tried and tested run down of my best acts from the last Future Flavours but hey maybe I am lazy.
Here are some links for my past blogs so you can check out some of the acts I spoke about who are SURE to be making an impact for 2015; from Ruinz, to Shura right through to FKA Twigs who has seemingly made it-(she has a Hollywood boyfriend as a full accessory for success) but let’s not forget that before Robert Pattinson she was and is an amazing talent.
Anyway onto another matter in hand and the issue of the music show I am part of called Quality Control. After all my chit-chat it is finally on your screens, Sky 539 to be exact every Tuesday at 10pm (look out for the repeats on BBC i-Player and Freeview every Thursday).
In that inaugural show we featured acts like the mercurial Tawiah smashing it with some of her newer material. Look out for hot acts like Laurel, Kinatural and The Feud smacking things like a mistress and a particularly weedy customer-‘please more mistress MORE, MORE!’
Incidentally I am on the look-out for new artists for season two of Quality Control so email me and send me your music I listen to everything semper@qualitycontrollive.com
Ok so in this installment we go real transatlantic going from Detroit, to Canada, Australia,Los Angeles before some stops in the UK, Brighton and London to be exact -what a beautiful thing hey?
Anyway with that let’s go in!!!
Get onto-Clear Soul Forces
First up we head to Detroit, the home of hip-hop stalwarts like Eminem and the late and great producer J Dilla.
It can be argued that a sterling hip-hop group has not been around for a while. We were spoilt for a while with huge names like; MOP, Wu Tang, Gangstarr, Arrested Development, Flipmode and even G- Unit but facts are that we a little thin on the ground for some fresh blood.
So here we go with an outfit who bring lyrically on point bars with that old skool swagger while still keeping it very much now. They are so good in fact it’s like a pack McVities Ginger Nuts with a nice warm cup of tea in the mid-afternoon.
CSF have trodden the traditional road to growing acclaim by merely putting out shed loads of firing material that showcases their chemistry. Their modus operandi is on point lyrical flows that are tightly constructed and complex, while still keeping the flow, its lyrical dexterity of the highest order and harks back to that hip-hop legend Rakim. Their flow is tighter than the garot a mafia hoodlum called Giancarlo ‘the garot’ Boceelli will put around your neck because he thinks you were sleeping with his ‘faithful’ wife indeed it’s as tight as your throat as your stomach makes a strong bowel movement.
So the quartet of E-Fav (Emile Manette), Ilajide (Kortez Marion), L.A.Z (Jarrel Lowman) and Noveliss (Jarred Douglas) have been plying their trade technically since 2012 when they dropped their stand out debut project Detroit Revolutions (2012) featuring bangers like Welcome To the Show or Strangers In The Night quintessential hip-hop and really lit the stick of dynamite.
Since then CSF have been tearing up stages and while they are yet to make huge waves over here the hip-hop fraternity are indeed already well acquainted with their previous output-check out the following bangers.
With my ear firmly pressed to the ground I know that they have a new album coming up for 2015 and they are pushing to get over to the shores of the UK for a live show-a first for sure.
CLEAR SOUL FORCES//TWITTER//FACEBOOK//SOUNDCLOUD
Hayden Calnin
So from hip-hop to Australian Hayden Calnin who is so good he’s like a pack of McVities Jaffa Cakes with a nice cup of tea to boot.
Comparisons to names like Bon Iver are irresistible with his brand or genre of music I like to call ‘melancholic joy’.
There is no doubting that this brand of music is not always going to appeal to everyone with its rather stripped down approach and in the main brooding arrangements but I must admit I love it.
So Hayden has been knocking on the door since 2012 when he dropped his debut self-released ep City (2012) which got him some welcomed press across the globe. There were of course some really sumptuous cuts which showcased his distinctive and engaging vocals. For My Help was the stand out single which is like watching a pan of water on the cooker as it slowly but surely warms, simmers, bubbles and then boils-it’s an intensely gorgeous track! It was a great indication of this young man’s talent.
Two years on and Hayden brings us his latest six track ep, Oh Hunter which I dare say is ever so slightly darker than its predecessor but evidently even better with brilliant tracks like Comatose-intense.
The obligatory press are salivating with the New York Times writing a special feature on Hayden to coincide with the release of the ep. I repeat this is not music to jump up to its music to sit back on a lazy day and just let Hayden’s music wash over you. The music is tighter than your sphincter as you realise that the early morning knock on the door is not your fresh delivery of venison but in fact Giancarlo ‘the garot’ Bocellie- ‘MAMA MIA!’.
I really have fallen like a teenager with an unhealthy crush for the ep which indeed sets things up nicely for a supposed LP launch in early 2015.
Look out he will also be dropping a tour.
We love-Ain’t No Love
Ok get your passports out we off on the plane again and taking a trip to Toronto Canada with the group Ain’t No Love. It’s funny but five years or so ago Canada was not necessarily on the musical map.
Canadian acts were like an endangered species that the world had given up on and accepted that full extinction was inevitable but Aint No Love are part of that new crop of Canadians showing they are just as good as their US neighbours.
Well with a few names like Drake (don’t hate) and the Weeknd, Canadian artists (who were always there incidentally) are now making a mark on a more global sphere.
So here we go with a producer, rapper and a singer who bring a brand of music that definitely sits firmly on the fence-appealing to those of a commercial leanings and to those who want a bit of bite to their music. Signed to Warner Canada it’s a tight collaboration of electro meets rnb and rap and its aimed of course at the ‘cool kids’ who cuts shapes at the merest drop of a deep bass banger. In fact the collaboration is so tight it’s like hoodlum Giancarlo ‘the garot’ Bocellie imagining how tight he will make the garot he is about to place around your neck.
Ain’t No Love were initially a foursome but somewhere along the way they appear to have lost a fourth member no matter-the group comprising of singer Saidah Conrad, 1990 and Beanz providing the verbal.
Their latest track Summa is a house, rnb which is not necessarily new but you know what it does work? It’s evidently less controversial than their previous single Pussy Down taken from their forth coming ep Love Plummet and features production from fellow Torontonian Birthday Boy.
If they continue in their current trajectory they should be coming to our shores at some point in 2015.
AINT NO LOVE//TWITTER//FACEBOOK//SOUNDCLOUD
Relieving pain-DrDr
So it’s passport time again and we head back to homeland of Brighton with DrDr bringing a fantastic mix which they have coined ‘Deep Garage and Future Bass’. While the copious categories of dance music can be slightly dizzying this is actually about right but I would add that I hear a bit of a Rnb vibe as well.
Producers, Chris Campbell and Joe Woods take smidgins of different dance genres while their vocalist Donna Cursons adds that sexy rnb flex. It works tighter than a garot around your neck twisted by the Joe Pesci like Italian hoodlum Giancarlo ‘the garot’ Bocelli whose wife you did indeed service every Tuesday morning just when he left for work to bully a casino owner for all of his profits-it’s TIGHT!
They have made a name for some awesome covers (particularly RnB bangers) while making sure their indelible nuances are clearly present on each of the storming tracks.
Check out the following covers: the amazing Climax (2012) by RnB demi god Usher, to the even better The XX’s Angels (2012) and of course their darkly sweet cover of Justin Timberlake’s Cry Me River (2002)-this cover is so good it’s like a pack of McVities Chocolate Digestives and a cup of tea while you look out the window observing people pressing their faces close to their chest to avoid a biting wind-you know the score-it’s all sub sonic bass, Donna’s killer vocals and that so hypnotic chorus-‘cry me a river’. For those who are so old that they get leaflets asking them if they want to get their will written at a knock down price also check out their remix of the Fleetwood Mack classic Big Love (1987).
So in September they actually dropped their stupendous title track Struggling off their ep-it’s a soaring dance vibe with some dark melodic bass-it has club classic all-over it. Of course remixes have already dropped for the single-check out the official remix by Curtis Gabriel on the same label as the trio. Got to say while the remix is tight the original is tighter-rather like a mafia hoodlum with a garot around your neck not only finding out you slept with his wife regularly but you also said to other mafia members that you used to shine his shoes-badly-‘motha==$4**8’! Other cuts that are ticking all the right boxes Fine Lines a house enthused gem loving it.
The ep released on Glyph Records boasts four tracks that beautifully showcase their ability to bring dance music without outrageously long intros before and that rather redundant rolling drum beat to help build the climax before the go crazy and give yourself a wedgie of apocalyptic proportions drop-can’t wait to see what they do for 2015.
Kacy Hill is an Experience
So we head to Los Angeles and a model come singer Kacy Hill who is signed to Kanye’s label G.O.O.D Music.
Kacy only has one track that I can really talk about called Experience but it is an absolutely storming number. It actually came out in September so I am a bit late in truth but it’s too good for me not to talk about it. In fact I would be lying if I said I only played this track once, played this track once, played this track once.
The gorgeous freckled model brings a clean electro sound and her rather spine-tingling voice. The video (like a lot of videos are doing nowadays) is simple with a close up of Kacy’s face (because that’s all you need) as she proceeds to enthral before the track drops sweetly. It’s so good it’s like a variety box of McVities biscuits-tidy!
Now all we can do is wait for 2015 and see exactly how her label and the artists are going to push things.
She has set the bar really high in truth so I hope that they don’t take this fledging talent into the realms where they go for the tried and tested and get David Guetta to produce her next single because it will translate to real and fake numbers on soundcloud or something like that-NOOOOOOOOOOoooooo!
KACY HILL//TWITTER//SOUNDCLOUD
The future is written in 808 ink
Last up the London outfit 808ink who are so good it’s like a pack of McVities hob knobs with a nice cup of tea while you check out a banging Sunday afternoon film knowing that on Monday you start two weeks of annual leave yeh boy.
Ok so 808ink immediately made me think of that rather good dance outfit from the 90’s 808 State. While that 90’s outfit pushed music inspired by the acid scene 808ink bring an alternative hip-hop flex with that core of British sensibilities. 808ink is a group essentially made up of two people-808Charmer being one of them. This individual is no stranger to working with some big names in the music scene-think MIA, Chiddy Bang and Tinnie Tempah. The story goes that 808Charmer then saw the other member of the group Mumblez Black INK rapping over a hip-hop instrumental in a video and proceeded to hook up with him and the rest is as they say history.
Since then they have added a major visual component to their musical output and this decision is completely vindicated in the cerebral, edgy and individual videos they drop with a third member of the team Creative Director Pure Anubi$. The product is so tight it’s like that mafia hodlum Giancarlo ‘the garot’ Buffon tightening the garot after remembering that not only did you sleep with his wife and but you slept with his sister too ‘die you moth008888’.
So what’s the material out there that should get you suitably excited-well their debut album’- An Artistic Piece is a real silent burner? The album is not new in truth having dropped in 2013 but it’s now they are pushing it and that indicates that there must be some fresh material coming in 2015 off the back of this push very soon. The album in itself is an experimental, alternative hip-hop type album that sees 808Charmer positively letting his creative side free from any shackles and it’s a joy.
It’ surely not hip-hop you are used to and damn you might even listen and wonder if you like it and you might even wonder if it is even hip-hop but hey that’s not a problem it’s meant to challenge you as Mumblez devles into a wealth of subjects some inspired by his emotions while on prescription drugs. From the opening Wet Canvas right through to the very end with the excellent Birds, this is an album that for me delivers and surely has to be one of the stronger albums to end the year. From little nods to emcees who surely inspired Mumblez when he drops the line, ‘you might win some, but you just lost one’ to almost incongruous for hip hop samples from acts like Bon Iver-808ink obviously want to do more than drop generic tracks and videos they want to make us think and that’s very cool.
Damn the music is so tight it’s like the garot that hoodlum Giancarlo ‘the garot’ Bocelli will now place on your dad who also slept with your wife and sister (ok that’s a bit far-fetched let’s leave that story) but you get what I mean, get on to 808ink and write to a friend about this London collective.