Fav Tracks, Hip-Hop, R&B, Remix
Onra’s takes on the Juicy J / The Weeknd collaboration “One Of Those Nights” and sends it interstellar. The Parisian producer lightens the mood with twinkling, repetive keys and a slick retro bass line. The original is great, but it’s awesome to hear Juicy and Tesfaye existing on the plane Onra produces.
It’s always great to see young artists help each other get a foothold in the tough industry of music. Here Clams Casino aids up and coming singer Mikky Ekko on his single “Pull Me Down” by providing his tried and true otherworldly production. It’s also awesome to hear his music used backing something other than hip-hop. Check out more from Mikky Ekko HERE and be on the lookout, he’s on the rise.
This is just an amazing track. Little needs to be said about a musical veteran like Bobby Womack but his upcoming album is a bit out of the ordinary. From the first taste of the record “Please Forgive My Heart” it’s not hard to tell that Damon Albarn is involved as co-producer alongside Richard Russell of XL Recordings. In a time when repackaging old R&B sounds would actually sell, a modern direction was taken on the song featuring subtle instrumentation and glitchy beats. The amazingly titled The Bravest Man in the Universe is due out June 12th in the US. This is immediately on a shortlist for song of the year.
After a year of internet silence the producer with only one other track to his name is stirring up the internet with his smooth electro R&B. Jai Paul may have had some help getting exposure when Drake remixed his “BTSTU” into “Dreams Money Can Buy” but 400K plays 10 days after dropping a track says the guy’s got skills all his own.
Here’s an eyebrow raiser, an Usher and Diplo collaboration. More surprising, the outcome doesn’t sound much like anything either artist has recently done. The vocals are much more heartfelt than the club singles we’ve become numb to from Mr. Raymond while Diplo’s production is wonderfully constrained. Apparently the strings are arranged by Nico Muhly. All in all, it’s just a great song. Enjoy!
Frank Ocean’s “Swim Good” track gets visuals from stellar director Nabil Elderkin. Elderkin directed Ocean’s “Novacane” video (HERE) and more recently Bon Iver’s “Holocene” (HERE). Enjoy!
This writeup could have easily been on the highly talked about new mixtape from Ontario’s The Weeknd or solely on Sango’s remix of the track “Gone”. So, I chose a combination. As most know Abel Tesfaye, better known as The Weeknd, has made a huge splash on the interwebs this year with the help of fellow Canadian crooner Drake. Thursday is the second stellar mixtape of three due out this year including House of Balloons which was released back in March. Both can be downloaded for free from his website HERE. Listen below to standout track “The Zone” featuring Drake below.
Judging from the number of his SoundCloud followers, it’s a safe guess Sango is new to the scene. But his remix of Thursday track “Gone” is hardly the work of a newb. Sango makes the song his own–in a good way–with a steady beat in place of the meandering production of the original without losing any of the signature Weeknd atmosphere. Listen below and head HERE for more from Sango.
With still no official release date of Nostalgia/LITE, we have a new track from the Odd Future Crooner Frank Ocean. This easy listen jam will have to hold you over for now. Hear “Thinking About You” below.
[via Hypetrak]
Arguably the most infamous member of the Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All (OFWGKTA) crew outside Tyler the Creator himself, Frank Ocean is a bit of an outlier amongst his cohorts. Opting for sensual crooning on accessible backtracks in lieu of brutal raps over oft-grating beats, Ocean has built a rep for himself outside the group that has him working with the likes of Kanye West, Jay-Z, Beyonce, Nas, etc. Listening to his first single from soon to be released EP Nostalgia, LITE “Novacane”, we find out why.
On “Novacane” Frank shows himself to be a complex and extremely talented individual. Behind all the sex and drugs in the lyrics there is an honest-to-god love song. Even in his drug fueled haze Ocean yearns for a sincere connection with this girl. A theme more likely to be associated with The Weeknd over Tyler and friends. Nonetheless an amazing song and even more amazing video. Nostalgia, LITE, which is a refined release of his blog released Nostalgia, ULTRA mixtape is due out July 28th via Def Jam.
It may have been Gold Panda’s production that initially got my attention, but it was Boykins’s crooning that drew me in. Jesse Boykins II, soul singer and producer originally from Chicago, sings through an ambient haze of getting back home to his mermaid lover. The song, which Jesse describes as “the visions of a lover thru his travels, in search of his present self”, is a track from his Way Of A Wayfarer EP which drops June 30th.
[via Hypetrak]
© 2011 Slap The Bass. Powered by Wordpress.
