New Music Mondays # 3

I made the foolish decision last week not to go to the Gilles Peterson Worldwide Awards on Saturday. As I sat at home experiencing it via twitter (not so fulfilling it turns out) I realised I'd missed a fantastic event. I think Gilles' show and associated projects are so important to the worldwide music scene. It's a sad state of affairs that sees him leave Radio One, I can't understand how the station that introduced me to such amazing music through the likes of John Peel, Steve Lamacq and Mark Radcliffe is now seemingly handing over all of it's specialist programming to artists rather than radio DJs. I'm not saying the people they've got in won't do a good job, but I can't see any of them having the legacy that the DJs mentioned above have. Anyway, old-man rant over - although the majority of the artists playing on Saturday were known to me already, I had not come across Bad Bad Not Good before. A little bit of internet snooping reveals that they are a 3-piece from Toronto who have collabed with Tyler the Creator amongst others. Covering hip hop classics in their jazz-infused style isn't necessarily going to be an automatic success (in fact I almost wanted to dislike it), but they bang so hard you can't hate on it! Check out their site for a heap of free downloads and take a listen to the clips below.
 

New Music Mondays # 2

A very concise (if slightly late) post this week. This track is new to me but the artists I am aware of. The first gig I went to following my move back to London in 2010 was at a grotty, nautically themed pub in New Cross. It was a friend's birthday and the event was part of a series called Look At Me SE15 - a showcase for local music. I knew that the fantastic Eska would be playing but apart from that I wasn't expecting much, which made the appearance of Conrad The Scoundral and United Vibrations all the more memorable. Conrad is a grime MC who has incredible charm, and fairly uniquely for a grime artist, sharp humour and genuine humility. United Vibrations are a 4 piece from South London who fuse afrobeat, reggae, free jazz, rock and hip hop with politicised lyricism - I realise that makes it sound like the worst kind of free festival worthy nonsense but they lift themselves beyond that with their sheer energy and talent.

I've since got involved with helping the UV guys on a distribution tip, and they have lived up to my early impressions. Fiercely passionate, opinionated and talented, they make the kind of music that excites me. I also discovered through them a rich vein of music in the area that includes the 12Tone Brass Band, Stepsons, Illersapiens and Ruby Rushton: a loose collective of young artists who remind me of the vibe we had in Leeds that birthed First Word. Look out for more from the above in the coming months, but in the meantime check out UV and Conrad's latest single 'London Bridge' and make sure you catch them live!

New Music Mondays # 1

Happy New Year! Now that the festive season is well and truly put to bed and the decorations have been taken down at FW Towers it's time to turn our thoughts to 2012. As I paused for breath over Christmas I realised that in amongst the chaos of last year, I had missed out on so much amazing new music. It's almost impossible now to find the time to listen to everything that jostles for attention in your web browser, but seeing as it's both my job and my passion, I thought I best make an effort.

Amongst the many things I slept on in the last year are the fantastic Teebs album, this gem from I' Ced and the Stepkids album on Stones Throw. So, in 2012, I've vowed to not make the same mistakes again - with that in mind, I'm going to use this blog to share a few things that I've discovered every Monday - hence 'New Music Mondays'. This is a bold claim, and one which I'll probably be back-tracking on come February but I figure it's worth a go. For this first blog, I'm just gonna pass on a few more things from 2011 that passed me by - a few suggestions for using up those Woolworth's vouchers from your Nan.

kidkanevil put me on to the Sonic Brat album Hana which is available as a free download from Totokoko label. The album's delicate atmospherics are perfect for a cold winter's day - lush, dreamy and emotive. Check out the title track here:

One name that I heard loads last year, without actually hearing any music was Zara McFarlane - her debut album Until Tomorrow came out on Brownswood - check out a live version of Chiaroscuro recorded in London:

Another amazing Jazz Vocalist that I picked up on over the break is Gregory Porter. His album 'Water' is fantastic, as is this track '1960 What?'.

Lastly, here is a track from Lewis McCallum called 'Fly or Die'. I know nothing about this guy, but this track is exactly my kind of music - deep, funky hip hop with skewed vocals. Can't wait to play this one out.

So, that's all for now - I'll be back next week with actual new music, rather than stuff you've already heard. Hopefully the title of these posts will start to make a modicum of sense. See you then.