FACT Magazine Tess Roby’s operatic Beacon is a synth-laced tribute to family and loss @ Musique Non Stop |
- Tess Roby’s operatic Beacon is a synth-laced tribute to family and loss
- Cosmo Rhythmatic to release Ignis EP from Mika Vainio and Franck Vigroux
- MJ Cole – Against The Clock
- Watch Rosalía’s action-packed new video for ‘Malamente’
- Pusha T uses Drake blackface photo to promote new diss track ‘The Story of Adidon’
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Posted: 30 May 2018 10:44 AM PDT
FACT Rated is our series digging into the sounds and stories of the most vital breaking artists around right now. This week Claire Lobenfeld Claire Lobenfeld speaks to Italians Do It Better artist Tess Roby.
Singer-synthesist Tess Roby has been surrounded by music since she was a little girl. Her mother, who was from New Brunswick, played Acadian folk music and her father, a Wigan native who passed away four years ago, was a musician, as well. The family piano lived in the kitchen of her childhood home in Toronto where, twice a year, they hosted a "kitchen party": a gathering where each attendee brings over a musical instrument to play, dance, and drink with each other throughout the night. "It's definitely a maritime thing," Roby says over the phone from her place in Montréal. "Every Christmas, we still have one." Unlike the anything-goes communal atmosphere of a kitchen party, Roby's debut album Beacon, released earlier this year by Italians Do It Better, was conceived in private. This included her brother Eliot, who she eventually invited to collaborate with her on the album and who plays with her live now. “I didn't realize I was keeping it so secret,” she says. “When I did eventually start to show people, people didn't necessarily know how to categorize the music.” It is true that Beacon is hard to put a finger on. Roby, herself, notes that she was listening to a lot of Brian Eno and Cocteau Twins when she was writing the album, and that she has been compared to Kate Bush, Björk and Nico, and while echoes of all those artists can be heard in her music, there is no pantomime. Many songs have guitar that is reminiscent of mathier indie rock riffs, but they are just hints. It makes a lot of sense when she says that her main influence for the album was “trying to envision the landscape of England within the songs.” What standouts most about the record is Roby’s vocals. They are deep and luscious, almost the opposite of her lithe synth work, but also a heady complement. Roby credits this to having spent eight years of her childhood as a member of the Canadian Children's Opera Company. "That was a huge foray into the development of my voice, unbeknownst to me at the time that it was so important for what I would be doing now," she says. "I pull a lot of my harmonies from my training, but I never wanted to continue to study music because of the theoretical side of things. I have a really good ear and I think being with the company for eight years really developed that ear, with regards to different sonic landscapes, different choral music and opera." All the of songs on Beacon are built around Roland Juno-106 that belonged to her father. In the four years since he passed away, Roby and her brother have been procuring the gear that remained in his studio. "Every time I go back to my house in Toronto, I take something, big or small, back with me. It's this ritual I have," she says. "I took the Juno and the drum machines that are featured on the album out of his studio, piece by piece. I had been with him when he was using them, but he never taught me. It was a slow process of learning how to use this equipment." The album, she says, is a tribute to him. For now, Roby is doing her first tour outside of Canada, supporting Carla dal Forno through early June. What she is really looking forward to, though, is writing more music. "I'm looking forward to making new music that has a distinctly different kind of concept, because this isn't a conceptual album, it's in some ways an ode or me going through all these different processes of healing and understanding [my father’s death],” she says. “I'm really looking forward to diving into new material that is more distinct to myself. It's an important story and people really latch on to the fact that it's this tribute, but the album is also about me and my forays into electronic music and making a whole album and growing my sound." Claire Lobenfeld is FACT’s Managing Editor. You can find her on Twitter, but she won’t be there. Read next: Sami Baha channels the video games and rap of his youth on Planet Mu debut Free For All The post Tess Roby’s operatic <em>Beacon</em> is a synth-laced tribute to family and loss appeared first on FACT Magazine: Music News, New Music..  |
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Posted: 30 May 2018 05:34 AM PDT
The follow-up to 2015’s Peau Froide, Léger Soleil album.
Shapednoise’s Cosmo Rhythmatic label is releasing a new six-track EP from the late Mika Vainio and French composer Franck Vigroux. Out June 29, Ignis was the result of “a lengthy creative process” comprised of studio sessions and live performances, according to the press release. The six-track EP follows 2015’s Peau Froide, Léger Soleil album from Vainio and Vigroux. It differs from the previous release by “including more spacious tracks and somber drones, driven by a never-resolved tension that infects every bit of sound.” Listen to first track ‘Luxure’ below. Pan Sonic co-founder Mika Vainio passed away last April aged 53. A posthumous album, Reat, was released on Berlin's Elektro Music Department label the following month. Earlier this year, a Mika Vainio, Ryoji Ikeda and Alva Noto live recording from 2002 came out on Noton. Revisit Vainio’s collaborative FACT mix made with Frank Vigroux in 2015 below. Read next: Revisit our 2013 conversation with electronic music icon Mika Vainio The post Cosmo Rhythmatic to release <em>Ignis</em> EP from Mika Vainio and Franck Vigroux appeared first on FACT Magazine: Music News, New Music..  |
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Posted: 30 May 2018 05:29 AM PDT
The UKG legend makes a track in 10 minutes.
MJ Cole is a true UK garage pioneer. It’s been 20 years since the release of his classic track ‘Sincere’, but through a process of constant evolution he’s still making vital tunes, the most recent of which is a killer collaboration with Kojey Radical. When we visited Cole’s studio in a former gin factory in east London a few months ago we jumped at the chance to film an episode of Against The Clock with him, eager to see what he could create in just 10 minutes. The result was a signature MJ Cole garage rhythm with skippy Rhodes piano melodies and chopped up vocal samples – UKG perfection, if you ask us. Watch next: Visit MC Cole’s gin factory-turned-studio in east London. The post MJ Cole – Against The Clock appeared first on FACT Magazine: Music News, New Music..  |
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Posted: 30 May 2018 04:06 AM PDT
Step into the world of the future-facing flamenco singer. Rosalía’s star is already in the ascent. Released last year, the Barcelona-born flamenco singer’s debut album Los Angeles showcases her unique ability to blend new forms of traditional flamenco with modern production and marked her out as an artist to watch in 2018. Rosalia’s second LP El Mal Querer is due for release later this year and is produced entirely by Bad Gyal’s go-to producer El Guincho, aka Spanish musician Pablo Díaz-Reixa, and Rosalia herself. While we patiently wait for the album to drop, press play on the video for its first single, ‘Malamente’. Watch next: Bad Gyal – Access All Areas The post Watch Rosalía’s action-packed new video for ‘Malamente’ appeared first on FACT Magazine: Music News, New Music..  |
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Posted: 30 May 2018 03:21 AM PDT
The ongoing beef sinks to a new low.
Pusha T has released a new track called ‘The Story of Adidon’, featuring artwork that shows a photo of Drake in blackface. According to Pusha T, the artwork was taken from a real photo shoot with Drake by photographer David Leyes. The photo was reportedly used to promote a 2008 clothing line called Jim Crow Couture from Canadian fashion label Too Black Guys.
In a since-deleted tweet, Leyes asked Pusha T’s manager Steven Victor to take the photo down. Pusha's Instagram post of the artwork was then removed, with the rapper sharing a takedown notice from Instagram. Drake has yet to respond. ‘The Story of Adidon’ fuels rumors that Drake has a secret child with porn star Sophie Brussaux, while also insulting Drake's longtime producer Noah "40" Shebib. "OVO 40 hunches over like he's 80/Tick, tick, tick/How much time he got?/That man is sick, sick, sick.” Shebib was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2005. ‘The Story of Adidon’ is the latest in a series of diss tracks. Last Friday, Pusha T stirred up his beef with Drake on diss track ‘Infrared’, featured on his new album Daytona. Drake responded shortly after with his own ‘Duppy Freestyle,’ taking shots at Pusha and Kanye West. The post Pusha T uses Drake blackface photo to promote new diss track ‘The Story of Adidon’ appeared first on FACT Magazine: Music News, New Music..  |
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