Musique Non Stop - Jazz, Funk, Soul, Broken Beat, Electro, Electronic, Funk / Nu Disco, NU Jazz, House, Techno, Ambient, Lo-Fi, Downtempo... and Many More!
Ah, major label obligations… oft at the helm of a musician’s frustration. But leave it to a man like Jesse Rose to channel his frustrations, whatever they may be, into something productive. Here we have “Play That” a brand new tune which the Brit-turned-LA resident has managed to turn over and release in under 24 hours. Says Jesse of the tune:
Yesterday at around 2pm I was getting so frustrated that I haven’t released a track in such a long time because of a major label deal being negotiated, that I thought “Fuck it, I’m going to the studio and making a track today just for my fans and then upload it in the morning.” I gotta say…. it was a lot of fun to do.
You can listen to and download the track on Soundcloud below, and be sure to follow him on Twitter and Instagram for any other cool stuff he might want to give away…
Attention techno lovers. Joseph Capriati will be spinning live at Output from open to close, with Marcel Fengler in The Panther Room. Want to dance the night away? Now here’s your chance. Enter below for a chance to win tickets to the party next Saturday. Contest ends Thursday at 5pm EST, with winners announced and contacted by Friday. Good luck! Pair of tickets to see Joseph Capriati in Brooklyn
Saxophonist Kyle Nasser was a student of Economics and Political Philosophy at Harvard University when his life was changed by an encounter with Hank Jones. The legendary pianist, then in his late 80s, visited Cambridge to teach and play a concert with the Harvard Jazz Band, making a profound impact on the young saxophonist. "Seeing him in peak form and expressing joy through music at such an advanced age was really deep," Nasser recalls. "We took him out to dinner, ended up playing a three-hour session, and then he asked us to take him home so that he could get in some practicing before bed. That left a huge impression and reinforced that I should do this. I didn't have any old investment banker friends that seemed very happy."
Nasser graduated from Harvard and switched paths, leading him to another revered institution: Berklee College of Music. He's now reaching another landmark along that path with his striking debut, Restive Soul, out March 24, 2015. A trace of the saxophonist's former pursuit remains in the title, which was drawn from a quote by French political philosopher Alexis de Tocqueville ascribing his pursuit of politics to his own "restive and insatiable soul." The album displays the keen intellect that landed Nasser at one of America's most hallowed schools, along with the passion that steered him away from a potentially lucrative career in business to pursue his lifelong love of music.
The compositions that comprise Restive Soul combine fervent jazz playing by Nasser's quintet - Jeff Miles (guitar), Dov Manski (piano), Chris Van Voorst (bass), and Devin Drobka (drums) - with elements from Nasser's intensive study of western classical music. But this is no Third Stream hybrid, wearing its "classical" inspirations on its sleeve; instead, Nasser seamlessly assimilates counterpoint and long-form harmonic development into electrifying modern jazz pieces. Those concepts were then workshopped on the bandstand over the course of several years during the band's regular Tuesday-night gigs at Brooklyn bar The Fifth Estate.
We’re delighted to present you with the worldwide premier of Even When I Lie, a fresh track from Parisian producer NxxxxxS (pronounced N five X’s). After the release of his second full length Fujita Scale, he has done mixes for i-D (Music to…Creep at night), played boiler rooms, and even earned a shout out from Flatbush Zombies saying he was one of their favourite producers.
With a sound characterised by drowned out baselines, sleep-heavy 808s and slithering snares that is interspersed with 8-bit notes and intriguing vocals, we’re starting to think he’s one of ours, too.
Give us your tired, huddled masses crowding around a 13″ Macbook Pro to catch every second of Jack Ü‘s marathon DJ set that’s currently streaming over on Beatport’s the Beatport Twitch channel. If you’re reading this, you’re probably a real fan, and because of that, you’re about to learn some very crucial information.
Armed with enough candy for a small army and a giant Barbra Streisand head, the OWSLA/Mad Decent powerhouse duo have already torn through almost nine hours of monstrous mixes, unexpected dance moves and surprise/affiliated guests (we’re even dropping by shortly, no surprise there) — and will continue until tomorrow afternoon.
However the BIG news is something fans have been awaiting for some time – many assumed today would mark the release of a Jack Ü debut record (which they’ve already begun leaking via Snapchat) and many were right.
Tonight, the duo released Skrillex and Diplo Present Jack Ü. The 10-track release has some pretty impressive collaborations, including guest appearances by 2 Chainz, Kiesza, Justin Bieber (and it’s tight) and, maybe most importantly, the queen of ’90s conceptual music videos, Missy Elliott. Check it out here.
Keep watching, friends. It’s all weird from here.
A new documentary shows how a country still scarred by years of segregation has embraced locally brewed house music as a force for expression
An apparition rises from the clouds of dry ice billowing through the humid Cape Town air, his pipe-cleaner limbs contorting wildly as he leaps and prances to a drum groove that sounds like hammers battering out a tattoo on a tin roof. DJ Spoko flashes a toothy grin from beneath his scarlet bandana and pokes a skinny finger towards the sky as his comrade Mujava teases out the wonky synth melody from one of South African electronic music’s biggest international hits, Township Funk.
Spoko and Mujava’s pandemoniac display was one of the highlights of this month’s Cape Town electronic music festival (CTEMF), which for the past four years has been seeking to channel the surging energies of the country’s diverse dance cultures and bring some of its disparate creative communities together. Spoko’s story illustrates how young South African producers and DJs have been employing a mixture of DIY inventiveness and entrepreneurial verve to make themselves heard. He started cutting tracks in his township home near Pretoria aged 12, using pirated drum-loop software to create the toughest sound he could. “I just banged those drums. Hard! No bass, just drums – bang!” he recalls. “I hate soft music, I just love noise.”
Ghostpoet’s Obaro Ejimiwe has tussled with the challenge of living up to lofty critical expectations since his debut. Album Peanut Butter Blues & Melancholy Jam picked up a 2011 Mercury prize nomination before 2013’s follow-up Some Say I So I Say Light earned two Association of Independent Music award nods. Here, he takes a turn that might alienate fans of the icy, sparse electronic beats that launched his career. With a backing band composed of guitarist Joe Newman, drummer John Blease and bassist John Calvert, Ejimiwe dives headfirst into moody alt-rock territory. His languid, spoken word-esque bars are still here, dripping over the title track’s exploration of homelessness and That Ring Down the Drain Feeling’s morose look at an ex-lover’s newfound happiness. But he explores more universal themes than on his past work, stepping outside the tried-and-tested tales of big-city woes and one too many boozy nights. Beyond a few piano-led lulls, the new Radiohead-tinged direction sounds compelling and thoughtful.
For their sophomore album, Another Eternity, future-pop duo Purity Ring decided to try something different: being in the same room.
When they recorded their debut, Shrines, Megan James and Corin Roddick were living in Montreal and Halifax, respectively. For Another Eternity, the pair returned to their hometown of Edmonton in order to work more closely.
The result is a big, ambitious sound full of complex melodies, evocative imagery and metaphor. As with Shrines, the band produced and recorded the album entirely themselves, and has a new live show to go with it.
Electronic music is an ever changing atmosphere. In a constant loop of evolving genres and more and more producers surfacing every day, what was once an underground genre, now requires true musicianship to make it. A perfect example, up-and-coming brother duo, Sailors, had been producing a long time as a hobby, but decided to take a chance dropping everything to make it a career. And we’re glad they did. With a clear vision of what they wanted their music to portray, the duo’s sound transports you far away from reality. Their latest original, “Feels So Good”, lives up to the title. Catching your attention from the start, the track travels through piano keys, mesmerizing vocals and a variety of soothing instrumentals. Out on Casual Jams Records, stream the track below. Enjoy!
Listen to the tax avoidance documentary soundtrack, scored by Radiohead’s Yorke and Massive Attack’s Robert Del Naja
If you’ve been searching for the right electronic music accompaniment to recent stories about the extent of HSBC’s tax dalliances in Switzerland, Thom Yorke and Robert Del Naja – known as 3D from Massive Attack – may have just met your needs. They have teamed up to score Mark Donne’s 2013 documentary The UK Gold, an investigation into the City of London’s role in the tax evasion industry, both in the UK and abroad.
Enlisting the help of fellow bandmates Jonny Greenwood, from Radiohead, and Euan Dickinson, from Massive Attack, Yorke and Del Naja have pulled together a collection of minimal and ever-so-slightly chilling electronic tracks for the soundtrack. Have a listen below, and let us know your initial thoughts.
There are two Roxy Musics – and our 10 deals only with the first, those abrasive musical insurgents, not the smooth balladeers of later years
As mission statements go, the very first Roxy Music song on their self-titled debut album couldn’t be any more effusive or less idiosyncratic. Not since the Jimi Hendrix Experience had any one band sounded this good playing over one another in an almost competitive manner, though the glaring difference was that Hendrix’s trio were virtuosos to a man. Aside from steady rhythm powerhouse Paul Thompson, it’s fair to say the Roxy of 1972 were musicians finding their way, and Brian Eno on the VCS3 synth notoriously couldn’t really play a note (he still can’t, not that that’s hurt his career any). The gloriously egalitarian nature of pop means ability can come in a variety of different guises, and County Durham’s Bryan Ferry, with his trembling voice, turned apparent shortcomings into strengths. He also approached the serious art of songwriting with a dadaist playfulness, in opposition to the prevailing trend in the early 70s of earnest confessional singer/songwriters. Bryan also had a lovely head of hair, and still does. Re-make/Re-model is a relentless, pulverising, sonic car crash of a song, and one of the cars in the pile up bears the number plate “CPL 593H” (sung repeatedly as the song’s only chorus), apparently driven by a beautiful woman Ferry noticed in the rear-view mirror on the way to the studio. The outro features a post-modernist smash and grab, the band chopping up bits of Richard Wagner, Duane Eddy and the Beatles and mixing them all together in their own irreverent musical scrapbook.
Arriving as the Nigerian Elections are delayed and as UK elections fast approach us, this could not be a better time for such a message. Though the philosophy is built from Dele’s experiences and frustrations about his childhood home of Nigeria, we feel these sentiments resonate stronger than ever, both here in the UK and around the world, right now.
We ask you to enjoy this incredible piece of Afrobeat deepness and to share the message everywhere.
Okay Africa Premiere
Enjoy the music but please do take a few moments to read words from Dele explaining, in greater depth, his feelings on the subject and the motivation for this piece.
Each week at CBC Music, our staff pick a list of songs you need to hear, writing passionate words with the hopes that you’ll add said artist to your playlist. This week, we’re starting something different.
NPR Music, BBC 1 and CBC Music have partnered to give an international voice to Songs You Need to Hear. The last week of each month, a host from each public broadcaster will choose a song from an artist that you need to hear.
In this inaugural edition, NPR Music’s Ann Powers, BBC 1’s Huw Stephens and our own Grant Lawrence make a case for three artists who should be on your radar. To hear their voices make the case, tune in to Radio 2 Drive at 6:45 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 24.
Song you need to hear: "Nothing to Lose," Andrew Combs
When 28-year-old Texas native Combs first surfaced in Nashville a few years ago, his highly melodic, moody songs earned him some lofty comparisons: people talked about Townes Van Zandt and Mickey Newbury. On his second album, Combs honours those heroes and the moment of their flowering, when country craftsmanship met folk storytelling and the sweet flash of post-Gram Parsons pastoral rock. Combs's voice is so evocative on his new album, All These Dreams, and the settings he creates with his collaborators (led by the outstanding guitar duo Steelism) are so rich, it's a damn good thing his lyrics live up to the presentation. This might be the Americana album of 2015.
We’ve had all sorts of great artists break through from BBC Introducing over the years, with some of the bigger names you might know including Jake Bugg and Florence & the Machine. I’m going to give you a new hot tip from one of the BBC Introducing artists that we’re digging at the moment. Bearcubs is 23-year-old Jack Ritchie, who brings an eclectic blend of electronic genres to the table. His latest single was written, performed and produced single-handedly, and sees this young artist putting his time studying digital music and sound arts at university to superb use.
My song choice comes from a brand new artist out of Edmonton called Faith Healer. It’s the bedroom musical project of young Jessica Jalbert, and when I say bedroom, I’m not kidding. The album was made in the producer’s parents’ basement over a series of Tuesdays because that’s the only day that both producer and musician had off from their day jobs at the same record store.
And this song kind of feels like a timeless indie-pop gem that you would unearth from a used record store. Is it 1965, ’95 or 2015? It’s a brand new song that builds beautifully and melodically into something special.
Listen to Ann Powers, Huw Stephens and Grant Lawrence on Radio 2 Drive for the radio version of Songs You Need to Hear at 6:45 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 24. Tune in online here.
Click on the image below to listen to the weekly Songs You Need to Hear feature, which has CBC staff across the country picking the must-hear tracks for your playlists.
These days, there really are no limits on how artists can deliver their recordings. This month, we've checked out some unique vinyl releases and limited-edition bundles you probably don't want to miss from Ghostface Killah with BadBadNotGood, Dan Deacon, Cancer Bats, Modest Mouse, Awolnation, Twin Shadow, Chilly Gonzales, the Prodigy, Death Cab for Cutie, Calexico and Silverstein.
The electronic experimentalists from Leeds have made a responsive video for each track on their third album. Have a listen (and watch) ahead of release and let us know your thoughts
Leeds quintet Vessels are no strangers to experimentalism. For their third album Dilate, the band have added an electronic pulse to their work, aligning their passion for post-rock wig outs with dance music’s communal rush.
Reference points pop up here and there. The ghost of Talk Talk drifts through Elliptic, for instance, whereas the whole album is reminiscent of the gentle ebb and flow mastered by Jon Hopkins.
Every track on the artist and music producer’s new album FORMAT will be issued on a rare or near-obsolete physical format. Eamonn Forde explores the fashion for dipping into the archives of sound technology
In a stand against digital ubiquity, the fetishisation of physical products in music is heading for a high water mark. Bobblehatted purchasers of “vinyls” in Urban Outfitters are now commonplace, and the latest timeworn format to be deified is the cassette, despite it being the least elegant audio product of all time.
Admiral of the antediluvian Jack White had his Russian doll-style novelty release of Lazaretto last year, marking a point where the vinyl revival verged on self-parody. Artist and music producer Trevor Jackson has gone one step – well, 12 steps – further with the release in February of FORMAT: each of the album’s dozen tracks will be issued on a niche or near-obsolete physical format.
Searching for the soundtrack to your dreams? This trio from Halifax’s got you covered.
Aqua Alta is the musical project of Jenn Grant, musician/producer Charles Austin (the Super Friendz, Buck 65) and producer/engineer Graeme Campbell (Buck 65), and they have been making beautiful electro-pop music for two years now. On March 3, Aqua Alta will release its debut full-length, Dreamsphere, in Canada, and you can stream it above one week in advance.
Aqua Alta began simply enough: Austin and Campbell sent Grant their tracks while she was on tour a few years ago, and she would write lyrics and sing the vocal melody. The project continued to grow, and the result is the weaving of Grant’s recognizably gorgeous voice in and around the catchy synth-pop rhythms from Austin and Campbell. On album opener "BTOcean," Grant’s "ooooo"s catch you as soon as the beat begins, and she never lets you go (save for one song, "Dream the Day After," which has choruses of "do, re, mi" sung by a group of children). Aqua Alta’s music is self-described as "undersea dream pop,” and it’s a sea in which you could easily float forever.
The first single off of Dreamsphere, "Epic Sweep," is nominated for an East Coast Music Award, and this album release marks the group’s first tour. Check out the dates here. Pre-order Dreamsphere ahead of its release.
Chevron festival gardens, Perth festival Australia’s current golden boy of mellow electro-pop is not just a brooding bedroom musician. He also knows how to work a crowd and a set list
It would have been simple for Chet Faker – real name Nick Murphy – to take the easy road with his current tour. After four years slogging away as an independent artist, he’s suddenly become the golden boy of mellow-electronic-pop, his achievements are splashed across the internet, and his four-song-strong Hottest 100 haul elevated his street credibility with even the coolest of critics.
Yet instead of lazily riding the success wave, Faker seems to be making a statement: he’s not just a brooding musician creating songs that are best experienced on a hot, slow night in the dim light of someone else’s bedroom. He’s an artist, and – somewhat surprisingly – a showman.
Pseudonymous London duo Public Service Broadcasting hit upon a winning combination of guitars, electronics and vintage public information films for their 2013 debut, Inform-Educate-Entertain. The follow-up focuses on the US-Soviet space race, between 1957 and 1972. It’s a smart move. Archive samples evoke the wonder and majesty of mankind’s most giant leap, and they’re complemented by finely judged soundscapes, from the mournful, static-soaked drone of Fire in the Cockpit (detailing the tragedy of Apollo 1) to the pulsing euphoria of Go! (the successful July 1969 moon landing). Even more powerful is the palpable suspense of The Other Side, as Apollo 8 orbits the moon and loses radio contact on the far side… before regaining it after an agonising wait.
This time-bending, space-shrinking record, which unites electronic producers from Los Angeles, New York and London (via Kuwait) as well as guest vocalists from both sides of the Atlantic, could pass for a field recording from some distant future. The production bears the stamp of Fatima Al Qadiri, who created a similarly glossy, post-human sound on her 2014 debut Asiatisch, with LA duo Nguzunguzu adding extra club bounce. The vocals – female rappers such as Chicago’s Tink make a strong impression here – are what fix us in the present moment: the party talk, posturing and sexual provocations pose an interesting counterpoint to the sci-fi soundscapes.
Swedish teenager Yung Lean first caused a stir with a set of weird YouTube clips that conformed to no one’s idea of what a hip-hop video should be. Stripped of the visuals and stretched over 13 tracks, his debut album is not such a strange proposition. Downbeat synth squiggles and chilly production align him with the bleaker strains of current R&B, while the dank atmosphere and slurred vocals occasionally recall late 00s rap offshoot witch house. If Unknown Memory doesn’t quite merit the excited bafflement that initially greeted Lean, its nagging hooks and queasy introspection still make for an intriguing trip.
Oliver Sacks, one of the most renowned scientists in the field of brain research, has revealed that he has terminal cancer and only a few months left to live.
In a touching op-ed in the New York Times, the British-born physician, NYU professor and bestselling author, who has often explored the power of music on the brain, wrote about his response to the diagnosis, and about how he's seeing his life as it comes to an end.
"I feel a sudden clear focus and perspective. There is no time for anything inessential. I must focus on myself, my work and my friends. I shall no longer look at 'NewsHour' every night. I shall no longer pay any attention to politics or arguments about global warming," wrote Sacks, who has written numerous books including Awakenings, which became an Oscar-winning film, and Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain, which became a PBS and Nova series. Sacks' work also provided the foundation for the Institute for Music and Neurologic Function, where he is an honourary medical advisor.
"This is not indifference but detachment — I still care deeply about the Middle East, about global warming, about growing inequality, but these are no longer my business; they belong to the future. I rejoice when I meet gifted young people — even the one who biopsied and diagnosed my metastases. I feel the future is in good hands."
If you're still tunneling through the sky-high piles of snow, I feel for you. I also can't really imagine it, having never truly left the relative mild comforts of the West Coast for any real winter, but the pictures look damn cold and I have sympathy frostbite tingles for everybody.
West Coasters suffer, too, in our own ways: the monotone monotony of grey skies and rain are chillingly bleak experiences that stretch on for months. But whether freezing cold amidst the snowbank trenches or bone-damp from the relentless downpour, we can all agree on one thing: we are SO over winter.
Spring is ready to get sprung. We can see it in the early-to-the-party cherry blossoms, smell it in the air, hear it in the new music, feel it in our toes. Friends, it's time: let's dance!
In the gallery above you'll find great vintage photos of people getting their groove on, all the way back to the Middle Ages, and you'll also hear the best new songs of 2015 that are guaranteed to put a whole lotta shimmy in your shake.
You can also check out the YouTube playlist below, but there are a few great SoundCloud songs in the gallery, too, so don't miss out on those.
This month, CBC Music celebrates our third anniversary. In the spirit of the all-powerful number three, we've put together a list of nine — that's three times three — great Canadian trios, spanning multiple generations and genres.
Ever since we caught wind of Disciples, they’ve been a favorite of ours. With their deep house sound matched with just a touch of pop sensibilities, it’s no surprise that they’ve been on a steep ascent, gaining recognition for the original, “They Don’t Know,” and more. Now after Justin Jay unveiled his “They Don’t Know” remix, France’s Sirus Hood steps up to the plate to mesh his g-house sound with the Disciples smash for a deep and bouncy groove. Enjoy above and pre-order your copy on iTunes, ahead of the remix pack release next week.
Hilariously named UK megafestival Bestival has announced that it will launch a new, North American version of the fest, which will take place on Toronto Island in June. The event will be put on in cooperation with international festival producer SFX Entertainment — who are responsible for fests like Electric Zoo and Tomorrowland — and local promoter Embrace. Bestival Toronto will take place on June 12 and 13.
Bestival has described itself as a "boutique festival," and is known for having unusual features like a dress-up tent, a secret stage, and in 2010, it set the Guinness World Record for the largest fancy-dress event when it got 55,000 festival-goers to dress up in costume.
"No disrespect to the festivals in North America, but a lot of them are very much stages, bars, food tents. This festival will look very different. It will have theatricality, ambition."
Interestingly, Bestival Toronto is scheduled to take place just a week before NXNE, Toronto's annual multi-venue, multi-day music and arts festival, which will be turning 20 this year. For the past several years, NXNE has also hosted an event on Toronto Island.
No lineup announcements have been made for Bestival Toronto, but the British version has an eclectic mix of indie rock (Tame Impala, Fat White Family), dance tent favourites (Joy Orbison, Seth Troxler), hip-hop (Action Bronson, Madlib) and nostalgia acts (Duran Duran, Snap!)
The veteran New York punk duo have survived a heart attack and a stroke, and are using their squalling classics as the springboard for further experimentation
“I’m still alive, still ticking over,” announces Alan Vega, the singer with Suicide, his long-running duo project with perverter-of-electronics Martin Rev. In 2012, Vega suffered a heart attack and a stroke, eventually undergoing surgery, which wasn’t initially thought to be viable. There have been a handful of Suicide gigs since his recovery: at Primavera Sound in Barcelona, David Lynch’s Silencio club in Paris, and the Station to Station happening-on-a-train in New York.
Back in 1977, when their eponymous debut album was released, Suicide stood alone on New York’s punk-dominated plane. Their disturbingly minimalist songs sounded distinctly antisocial, yet managed to marry elements of heavily obscured pop with deep slurries of noise. Vega was prone to intense spurts of fragmented vocalisation, dotted with sudden screams and mutterings, while Rev was intent on crafting repetitive keyboard pulses, shooting primitivist drum machine stutters underneath.
Its leading track, Gone Fishing, and much of the new album was inspired by Paris Is Burning, a documentary about house music’s origins in black and gay culture
Róisín Murphy has confirmed details of her first new album in eight years. Entitled Hairless Toys, her third solo record is due out on 11 May via Play It Again Sam.
News of her forthcoming album is lead by the new single, Gone Fishing, a delicate, minimal electronic ballad. In a statement, Murphy explained how the track, and much of the album, was inspired by the 1990 documentary Paris Is Burning and the “outcasts who could never fit into mainstream society”.
Dance music is so popular in Russia that acts have been invited to appear at the Kremlin. DJ Fenix describes how his strobe-heavy rave sets go down with Moscow’s conservative elite
Is the moniker ‘Putin’s official DJ’ a sought-after crown or the kiss of death for an electronic musician living in Russia?
Those wondering should keep any eye on the career of DJ Fenix, recently afforded the title after becoming the first person ever to DJ at the Kremlin.
Norwegian producer, Bearson, has been quickly evolving his music since his debut in 2014. Starting his career vested in Tropical House, the young producer decided to go down a new path in 2015. Hot off the heels of his debut original “Pink Medicine”, Bearson is shaking things up again with his latest remix of Ghost Loft’s track “Talk To Me”. The remix starts soft and ambient and segues into a groovy, uplifting melody accompanied by piano keys, heavenly synths and hints of his signature Tropical sound. Transporting us back to a warmer time, Bearson’s remix of “Talk To Me” takes the slow, heartbreak song and transforms it into a little bit of sunshine. We’re anticipating great things from the producer this year. Be sure to grab your Free Download here, enjoy!
From Susanne Sundfør’s powerful pop to Carl Barât’s solo venture, here’s five albums to stream this week. What will you be listening to?
Why you should listen: Sundfør, a chart-topper in her native Norway, has produced a beautiful sixth album of sprawling and ethereal pop – in the manner that Scandinavian artists so often do.
French-Cuban twin sisters Ibeyi have been dubbed “doom soul”, and form a kind of gloomy triptych alongside two other recent XL signees, techno producer Powell and grime MC Vocalist. The doom soul moniker is a slight misnomer; the themes that run through their eponymous debut LP are mysticism and Yoruba spirituality (their name means twins in the Nigerian language). After opening track Ellegua – a haunting Santería prayer – and Oya, which is reminiscent of Volta-period Björk, there’s an expectation of further experimentation and exploration. The problem is that the twins only seem to have one pace – and, like XL’s blue-eyed funk band Jungle, that wears thin over a whole album. After the early high points of Oya and River, there’s a string of low-slung tracks – Think of You, Stranger/Lover and Mama Says – that operate within the same tight parameters: haunting vocals, melancholy lyrics and a boom-bap backing track. As stand-alone tracks they work, but side-by-side, you can’t help but wish they’d try something outside this comfort zone.
Steve Strange showed a generation that they could be, in Gary Kemp’s words, ‘more exciting than we imagined we were’
Last year’s Spandau Ballet documentary Soul Boys of the Western World spent a considerable amount of time focusing on two Soho clubs in London, Billy’s and the Blitz, where the nascent new romantic scene was born. Over footage that looks pretty remarkable – 26 years later, in an era when almost every youth cult of the past has been assimilated into the mainstream, you’d still attract a great deal of attention walking down the street dressed like certain members of its clientele – various band members list the nights’ memorable qualities. There was the music assembled by DJ Rusty Egan: Bowie, Kraftwerk and Roxy Music, Krautrock and disco, Throbbing Gristle and Ennio Morricone. There were the kind of people the club attracted, a very British, slightly wonky take on Warhol superstars, their DIY glamour held together with sticky tape and string: “Fabulous nobodies,” as one commentator put it, “who thought they were famous already.” And, perhaps most striking of all, there was “this boy called Steve on the door”. Even in the all-bets-off, anything-goes aftermath of punk, there seemed something remarkable about an 18-year-old from a small mining town near Caerphilly loftily pronouncing on who could and couldn’t come in to London’s hippest club.
Talent clearly runs in the family of French-Cuban sisters Ibeyi. Their father was famed conguero Miguel “Angá” Díaz, who played as part of the Buena Vista Social Club, while their love of Yorùbá choirs was inspired by their mother.
Rapper takes action against party rock group for breaches of copyright and trademark – and say Redfoo should not be able to act on behalf of his partner Sky Blu
Redfoo, half of the electropop group LMFAO, evidently believes his abilities extend far beyond imploring people to party. He also, apparently, is qualified to lead a mediation in a legal case.
LMFAO – Stefan Gordy (Redfoo) and his nephew Skyler Gordy (Sky Blu) – are being sued by the rapper Rick Ross over their song Party Rock Anthem, specifically the line “every day I’m shufflin’”, which Ross feels bears too close a resemblance to “every day I’m hustlin’”, from his own song Hustlin’.
Steve Strange’s role was not to be a dazzling instrumentalist – it was to make connections and deploy an aesthetic. And that’s what he was brilliant at
There were more famous new romantic bands than Visage, and maybe even one or two singles as good as Fade to Grey, but the late Steve Strange’s group embodied the style more than anyone else. That’s only what you’d excpect: he was the scene’s literal gatekeeper, and his door policy on the Blitz Club he hosted reserved entry strictly to “the weird and wonderful”. “People accuse the Blitz of being elitist,” says the club’s website. “They were right.”
A little elitism, flash and glamour was probably what turn-of-the-80s London needed. It was most likely inevitable that the capital’s clubland would turn towards colour and high fashion. But it was London’s luck to attract someone with the drive and sensibility of Steve Strange. In the ferment of 1980s youth movements – mod revivalists, two-tone acts, disaffected new wavers – the Blitz Kids stood out for the daring (and sometimes the absurdity) of their style, and for their commitment to it in the face of public gawping. Strange led from the front, made up as a damaged pierrot, a porcelain-faced old man, a sailor, a convict, or a dandy.
