Audiophile 021 – Triola EP

soundcloud.com/audiophile021/

With Triola, Cape Town-based DJ/Producer, Audiophile 021, offers a meandering journey full of rich and textured sounds. The EP was released on the 25th of June on the Triplefire Music label.

The XX – ‘Angels’

clashmusic.com

In case you missed it, The XX were the biggest new thing in London when they burst onto the scene back in 2009. Their debut album was all soft beats and groovy melodies over which Romy Madley Croft and Oliver Sim would whisper sweet nothings to each other. Since then the young members have been doing their own thing, most notably beat-master Jamie XX’s remix album of Gil Scott-Heron’s I’m New Here. This new track features the nocturnal lovesickness that was the motif of their debut and precedes the September 10th release of their new album, Coexist.

The Antlers – ‘Drift Drive’

pigeonsandplanes.com

2009’s dark and lo-fi Hospice was the breakout album for the Brooklyn-based trio, which they followed up with Burst Apart, one of the best albums of last year. The new single conveys the feeling of aquatic sedation that seems to be the theme behind their new 4-song EP, Undersea, which will be coming out on the 24th of July.
 
 
 
 

Meursault – ‘Flittin’’

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‘Flitting’ is the new single from Meursault’s third album. They make the sort of heartbroken melodies leaning towards the folk side of indie rock that makes a lazy comparison to Frightened Rabbit easy and quite accurate. There’s a coarse honesty and melancholy in this song that cuts into you like a hot gulp of of whisky. Their new album, Something For The Weakened, was released on the 16th.
 
 
 
 

Errors – ‘Relics’

aaamusic.co.uk

Have Some Faith In Magic was an early contender for my favourite album of this year and in the months since its January release there hasn’t really been anything to knock it from its perch. Now we have the montivagant ‘Relics’ as a precursor to their new mini-album New Relics, with an ETA scheduled for October.
 
 
 
 

Dirty Projectors – ‘Gun Has No Trigger’

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The last LP by Brooklyn-based indie band Dirty Projectors, 2009’s Bitte Orca, showcased the band’s eccentric and experimental leanings. After a collaborative EP with Bjork in 2010 their new album, Swing Lo Magellan, is coming out on the 9th. The new LP finds them at their most accessible yet still offering an array of interesting sounds. ‘Gun Has No Trigger’ is the first single.
 
 
 
 

The Stone Roses – ‘I wanna Be Adored’

lyrdb.com

The reformation of Manchester legends The Stone Roses has been big news for nostalgic fans  and backwards-looking music magazines. However, to someone like me who was born in the same year as their famous 1989 debut a big reunion like this looks like more ageing rockstars are willing to kill their legacy and pick its bones clean. Cynicism aside, this reunion is something that means a lot to thousands of fans and makes this as good a time as any to remind ourselves why, more than fifteen years after they first disbanded, they are still adored.
 
 
 
 

Ill Skillz –  Skillz That Pay Da Billz 2

ill-literate-skill.bandcamp.com

Cape Town hip-hop trio Ill Skillz exhibit the ego, pride and partisan attitude of hip-hop, but with an explicitly South African heritage. Their 8-track album Skillz That Pay Da Billz 2 is available as a free download from their bandcamp page.
 
 
 
 

Big Space – Brown Bag E.P

facebook.com/pages/Big-Space

Big Space is from Cape Town. Aside from beats, he also shares some words on his SoundCloud: ‘I could just name drop all the famous people I’ve worked with who are waaay more famous than me but that would just be stupid. I make house music but I don’t make house music. I don’t think a lot of people like my personality but its okay… I love everyone. I also have an adopted cat and an E.P. coming out this summer on BOMBAADA records’ ALSO, I WILL STILL FUCK SHIT UP. CHENIN NON BLANC BABY! BOURGIE BOYZ!’ (Big Space, SoundCloud)
 
 
 
 

The Wave Pictures – ‘Eskimo Kiss’

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The Wave Pictures make guitar music that’s familiar yet invigorating. The prolific London three-piece follow up last year’s excellent Beer In The Breakers with their new album Long Black Cars, from which ‘Eskimo Kiss’ is the first single.
 
 
 
 

Joey Bada$$ – 1999

pigeonsandplanes.com

1999 is the debut project from Brooklyn’s 17-yr-old Joey Bada$$. This 15-track mixtape features members of his Pro Era crew – a collective of 18 rappers, producers, graphic designers and studio engineers – such as Capital STEEZ, who makes an appearance on track four – ‘Survival Tactics’. From A$AP to BadASS, NYC keeps rolling out that old school hip-hop grit
 
 

Killer Mike – ‘Big Beast’ (Feat. Bun B, T.I., and Trouble)

musicya.net

The rapper Killer Mike (born Michael Render) released his sixth studio album called R.A.P. Music, produced by Definitive Jux’s El-P (Jaime Meline) and released by William Street Records. Spin mag’s Christopher Weingarten says it perfectly: ‘A child of the ’80s and a student of the Internet, Killer Mike is as exciting and wildly unclassifiable as hip-hop gets: New York noise and country shit, nods to when rap was punk and crunk was pop, Ice Cube before he needed hooks, David Banner before he needed to whisper, and Willie D before he needed anybody.’

Images from: soundcloud.com/audiophile021/; facebook.com/pages/Big-Space; aaamusic.co.uk; sndcdn.com; clashmusic.com; pigeonsandplanes.com; wordpress.com; lyrdb.com; imgur.com; ill-literate-skill.bandcamp.com; pigeonsandplanes.com; musicya.net

Obscure to a point of not existing, WU LYF appear only through rumors and whispers. Go Tell Fire To The Mountain, their debut album, is the only concrete evidence they exist. We got hold of it and decided to see what all the fuss was about.

Late ’70s Manchester, a crowd gathers to hear a band play. They’re not sure who this band is nor do they care. No hype, no press, who is this Joy Division anyway? That’s the overall impression I get from WU LYF. People don’t seem to know what to make of them and their antics; shunning all press and promotion. This band is not one you’re going to have mixed feelings about, you’re either going to hate them or love them. We’re here to dissect the only thing that matters though, their music.

‘L Y F’ is the opening track and sounds something straight out of a Catholic Sunday service. It should because the album was recorded by the band independently in a church. The sound is almost immediately mesmerizing, soft, inviting you in, but then you hear the vocals. The biggest challenge listening to WU LYF is definitely getting over the fact you will not be able to make out most of the lyrics. You’ll probably be craving a Halls just listening to them, but given enough time they melt into the music which is simply brilliant. ‘Cave Song’ shows us more indiscernible lyrics, but with haunting pain the band plays on. By this point you should know whether to snap the album in half or continue listening.

Feeling a bit bewildered, my attempt to describe their sound is this: it’s a pubescent James Hetfield screeching with sweet down tempo gospel rock sound that The XX has mastered and that’s not even close to accurately describing WU LYF. Before the album was released, the press had no idea who each individual band member was. Knowing now it makes no difference because they are all total new-comers, but with a sound years beyond their experience.

‘Such a Sad Puppy Dog’ is in no rush to pull your heartstrings, but it will with its soulful melancholy. We’re presented with a weak duo of tracks, ‘Summer Bliss’ and ‘We Bros’ are pretty average and can’t define the sound of WU LYF as well as their standout tracks. Then suddenly you’re bombarded with ‘Spitting Blood’ which in my mind is the track that will most often convince someone off the street to listen to more. With an anthem like value of mumbling along, don’t be surprised if this is the track that gets WU LYF on your radio. ‘Dirt’ begins with an addictive drum buildup and follows through with equally haunting organs and vocals. It soon turns violent with the vocals begging you to move, if I know what I’m talking about you will be. Easily the most beautiful song I’ve heard in a long time, beastly voice and all, is ‘Concrete Gold.’ The guitar is really put through its paces at this point, more evidence of a youthful prodigy that can only get better. ’14 Crowns for Me and Your Friends’ calms us down, bringing us back to the angst-driven vocals dominating the first half of the album.

Finally the band does their best to leave an impression with ‘Heavy Pop’ my personal favorite track which includes every decent sound extracted from the album in its entirety. If I sound impressed by WU LYF’s debut album, it’s because I am. One can argue that their hype can’t possibly live up to Go Tell Fire To The Mountain, but I came at this album from the other side. I’d never heard of them or their pranks on the press at all, not a single review nor shred of info. Given the album, I am convinced that it’s more than enough evidence of a band that will make a mark, especially for an independently produced and distributed debut album from a band with no history.

Keep an ear out for these guys, they’re going places.