Hidden Gems (August 2014)
Another long summer month with a massive amount of new music. We’ve picked a few obvious ones as well as some underground tunes that were spinning in heavy rotation at our office. Let’s jump right into it, shall we?
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We’ll start with a groovy mash-up, courtesy of Gummy Soul. Perfect to play as the summer winds down, enjoy their disco vibe version of Outkast‘s “Da Art of Storytellin”!
Check the Holidays EP of NCY Milky Band! True to it’s name, it has this funky and warm vibe that will make you feel you are in holidays again… Rappers junclassic and Cotchei also took part in the project!
Lucid is a female duo based in the Netherlands combining Hiphop, Soul and R&B. Celebration is the third single off their album Poisoned Pawns set to be released in October.
It’s always special getting something new from Shabazz Palaces. The video of #CAKE is full of city streets, abandoned buildings, dark atmosphere, giants and a faceless person, but in the end it’s all a bit hard to explain, so you better take a look for yourself.
Baby Blue Bic is the latest single from Rhode Island native Falside. You may know him from productions for Juan Deuce & Action Bronson, but on this one he goes back to the 80s as we hear infectious synthesiser melodies.
New York producer Blockhead is back with fresh new material, this time going completely independent. Here’s the first single off his upcoming album, titled Kaput!
Bilal‘s latest single, “Sirens II,” see him crooning over an Adrian Younge song – the same that was the basis for Jay Z’s Picasso Baby off Magna Carta… Holy Grail.
Influenced by classic brazilian music of the 60’s and 70’s, the Bahia Affair EP blends elements of bossa percussion with MPC beats and ample Fender Rhodes licks. Sampled elements remain but play a background role in the mix: providing the accents between live horns and guitar solos that give the project an added organic texture..
Metronom is the first solo-album by FloFilz. Soulful beats are just something we can’t get enough off! Here’s his first music video for his trackfor Nomind.
This month we also saw Gabriel Heatwave settin’ the vibe nicely with the biggest dancehall and basement tunes of the summer!
J*Davey is back. The electronic/funk duo of Brook D’leau and Jack Davey come correct with Love? Yeah! – an uptempo, electro-funk song with synthesisers and of course the vocals of Jack Davey!
Easy Rider is the lead single of Action Bronson‘s major label debut, Mr. Wonderful!
FC Music Group comes out of the vibrant Charlotte, N.C. hip-hop scene, and they got those old school boombap, Pete Rock vibes. Def something to check out!
Run The Jewels – do I need to say more? The dynamic duo of Killer Mike and El-P are back promoting their second album which will arrive on Oct. 28 through Mass Appeal Records. Here’s the heavy lead single Blockbuster Night Part 1.
The Ugly Heroes EP is here! Apollo Brown, Red Pill and Verbal Kent unleash proper boom bap sound.
Legendary Atlanta-based MC/producer Count Bass D did not only play a rad show at the annual Sommerfest in Cologne last summer, but hung out at the Treehouse with Twit One, Retrogott and Lazy Jones. The EP The Count in Cologne captures the best moments of these sessions. Cop it at the MPM Store, hhv.de or iTunes. You can listen to Side A from the EP here:
Otis Brown III unleashed his second single “You’re Still The One” featuring vocalist Gretchen Parlato. The pair collaborates for a jazzy cover of Shania Twain’s original song with a little help of Robert Glasper‘s gentle touch on the piano.
Really nice tune from Poughkeepsie native and Brooklyn implant LaJune Grant. She’s appeared on BET’s “106 & Park.” and has opened up for R&B sensations Case and Joe. Enough talk tho, check Fibrillate and grab the Body EP if you dig it.
One of the dope upcoming artists out of San Diego, Phabo, drops a smooth track titled “Never”. This will not appear on his upcoming project, but it is definitely something people will enjoy.
Kentucky based MC Allen Poe dropped his 2nd single “Don’t Delay It”, off his upcoming album dropping October 2014 titled,”How Gardens Grow”.
Nice take on your typical lyrics video by Rustie for his Danny Brown-featured “Attak”. The track is from Rustie’s new album, Green Language.
DJ Shadow announce THE LIQUID AMBER EP which serves as the opening salvo in what he anticipates a long string of music, by himself and others, on my his new imprint: LIQUID AMBER.
Caught wind of her on the latest The Truth w/ Elliott Wilson. Check out female emcee Noname Gypsy and her track Take You Back!
Chris Read put together the super dope BBE Beat Generation 10th Anniversary Mixtape 3 and a half years ago but it still bangs! The mix features tracks from all of the Beat Generation greats: Dilla, Pete Rock, Jazzy Jeff, Marley Marl and many more…
Last but not least, Brainfeeder’s Mono/Poly floats in a world somewhere between psychedelia, hip-hop, and jazz on his new album Golden Skies. Check Empyrean featuring Mendee Ichikawa of the group Free Moral Agents, who suits the spaced-out vibes of the song perfectly.
