Misun - Promise Me

Misun released another single today, and they continue to impress.  I previously posted their song "Harlot" so I was definitely excited to check out their latest effort.  I was not disappointed.  Nacey and William DeVon provide spacey arpeggios and fat synths over a tight drum line.  No sounds overpower each other; they remain in a good balance.  Meanwhile, Misun queries "Can you promise me that when we are asleep/All of the dreams that we have are for keeps?"  She proceeds to gain comfort from a touch; that physical certainty reassures her of the reality of her dreams.  The song ends with soft whistling and birds chirping, symbolic of the dawn of the next day.

As I said before, I'm truly amazed by all the tracks this group has put out so far.  My hope is that a full length release and tour dates are in the near future.  Their debut EP The Sea is currently up for free on Nacey's Soundcloud as are their other singles from this year.

Listen/Download:   

Tuxedo - Tuxedo EP

This is what it's all about for me.  All the hours spent listening to music, all the effort I put into looking for music, all the 'likes' and 'follows' pay off when something like Tuxedo pops up on my radar.  After Andre of RAC gave the remix treatment to Mayer Hawthorne's hit "No Strings Attached", the two have linked up to release a funky dance EP under the name of Tuxedo.  I guess the biggest thrill for me is to able to share something new and awesome while it's VERY fresh; I mean, come on, their Facebook and Twitter accounts are still in the double digits.  This particular collaboration is also exciting because just yesterday I was thinking about how I should share some Mayer Hawthorne music on here.  He's a great vocalist and deserves some recognition.  So what could be more perfect than brand new original music from him with the help of perennial PUYL favorite RAC?  Oh, and it's free to download.

You are going to want to grab this EP immediately.  If you aren't home, Get U Home quickly and Do It cuz this is So Good.  

UPDATE: It looks like I may have prematurely shot my wad on this one.  In fact, RAC is NOT linked with this project, but was simply aware of the collaboration.  I read a little too much into a tweet of his and thought he was involved.  The real production genius behind Tuxedo is Jake One who has produced a myriad of records for a wide range of hip-hop acts over the years.  Cool!

Tokyo Shawn & Kami de Chukwa - Scrapemoney

Savemoney is the name of a Chicago collective of musicians, artists, and friends.  It is most famous for being home to such rising stars as Kids These Days and Chance The Rapper, but the crew is much deeper than those two excellent acts.  "Scrapemoney" exhibits the talents of Savemoney members Tokyo Shawn aka Preston San, and Kami de Chukwa.  Both rappers dominate the furiously aggressive beat, spitting plenty of clever metaphors and cultural references in their lines.  I've been meaning to post this song since it came out almost a year ago, and I'm finally doing it now because it's so good.

Get familiar with the Savemoney Army through this interview and check out Preston and Kami's Soundclouds for more music.

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Biggie Remixes

Today marks the 16th anniversary of the death of Christopher Wallace, better known as The Notorious B.I.G.  He was killed too soon at the age of 24, but his music and legacy survive and continue to inspire musicians to this day.  Countless rappers cite Biggie as their primary influence for their craft.  Most fans can't necessarily relate to his lyrics, but they can appreciate his storytelling and wordplay, as well as his unique and adaptable flow.  I'm sure that is why so many producers have found it relevant and easy to include his vocals on remixes.  To celebrate his contributions to hip-hop and music, I decided to share a couple of remixes of his songs that I particularly enjoy.  I think these tracks demonstrate the wide breadth of B.I.G.'s reach.

Teenage producer Yinyues constructed this quick song using an unreleased track from the Life After Death album.  Yinyues had barely been born when Biggie was gunned down, but that's the point: you don't have to be a contemporary of a legend to be inspired by his work.

This track includes bars from the oft-sampled 'Dead Wrong' which Mr. Francois weaves over an excellent instrumental from 'Linguistics' by Cunninlynguists.

Download.     

Chrome Sparks - Sparks EP

It's after 1:00 AM, so of course I'm avoiding sleep and listening to some chill music.  I really can't help it.  Tonight it's all about Chrome Sparks, the musical alias of 22 year old Jeremy Malvin.  He's a Brooklyn based producer whose background includes studying and touring as a percussionist.  Chrome Sparks has become his creative outlet for synthesizer productions.  His tracks have limited vocals so all of the focus is drawn to his excellent instrumentals.  The result is a combination of dreamy and trippy music that, at the same time, sounds carefully structured.  Malvin hasn't thrown things together haphazardly; he clearly has a writing process.  He makes the songs seem cohesive and driven, while still allowing the listener to drift off and enjoy the sonic scenery.

You can find all his releases on his Bandcamp or his Soundcloud.
Stream/Download the Sparks EP below:

Gabriel Nascimbeni - Café

Artur Haddad

I've got a little international flavor tonight.  Normally, I reserve the café for when I need to wake up, but this track is pleasantly calming.  It's by Gabriel Nascimbeni, a young musician from São Paulo, Brazil with help from Natália Pesciotta.  If my high school Spanish education is serving me well, I can roughly translate the Portuguese on his website to learn that he has composed for soundtracks and commercials, while also creating his own music.  In addition, he was invited to the Red Bull Music Academy in 2010, which is a music workshop for promising new artists.  Nascimbeni truly does show a lot of promise; even with only a small collection of songs on his Soundcloud, it is obvious that he has a lot of talent and is a devoted student of his craft.  For me, it's special not having any idea what he is saying.  I can simply free myself to enjoy his musicality.

Listen/Download: