Author Archives: Ricky Stephens

About Ricky Stephens

Ricky Stephens is an independent musician and music reviewer from Tampa Florida.

[New] Teen Daze- Fantasy

Posted by Ricky Stephens - March 30, 2012

Vancouver’s Teen Daze has been a big hit in the blogosphere for a while now- I myself first wrote about his track “Brooklyn Sunburn” earlier this year and, with constant activity surrounding his name, I think this will continue to be a big year for the up and coming producer. With his first full length All of Us, Together scheduled for release on May 8th, Teen Daze has been on tour to gain traction and begin steamrolling the hype. His latest release “Fantasy” fits in with the synthetic/sincere breed of electro that we are supposed to expect from the new album- but is only available on a tour EP at shows.

Teen Daze- Fantasy

[Hip Hop] Charlie Hilton- Mother (ft. Khalil Ismail)

Posted by Ricky Stephens - March 30, 2012

The UK’s Charlie Hilton has been privately working on a project he’s calling Collector’s Edition and, until a few days ago, the public had no idea what to expect. The first thing to be released from the album is a bonus track titled “Mother” featuring Khalil Ismail– a duo, and a song, that work really well. The song itself is upbeat and appreciative of a mother who supports and helps to navigate her child through troubled waters without asking for anything in return. Its refreshing, uplifting, and important… because without mothers- we wouldn’t exist at all. Oh, and a fun fact: the beat is an Aretha Franklin song titled ” I Say A Little Prayer” that has been cut and looped. Stream Below:

Charlie Hilton-mother

’charlie
hilton

Download

Hip/Hop

[Remix] Marina And The Diamonds- Primadonna (Burns edit)

Posted by Ricky Stephens - March 30, 2012

Welsh singer/songwriter Marina Lambrini Diamandis or Marina And The Diamonds, as she is more commonly known, has had a sudden rise to fame following her second place finish on the BBC’s Sound of 2010. To follow up the success and notoriety she gained back then, Marina has been serving up hearty dishes by way of well put together tracks. Her latest album, titled Family Jewels is set for an April 16th release and to keep the hype up the single “Primadonna” and all of it’s remixes have been floating around the internet in a frenzy. Burns has put out a remix of “Primadonna” that takes the song in an all but completely new direction with his atmospheric swirls and wobbles. He’s turned the track into a thoughtful breed of dubstep without taking away from the original idea. Stream below:

Marina And The Diamonds- “Primadonna” (Burns Remix)

[Folk] Five Mile Town- Saturated

Posted by Ricky Stephens - March 29, 2012

Five Mile Town is a folk group from New Zealand that has been rising from the dust and into the spotlight of internet stardom. The video for their debut single “Saturated” has soared to about 29,000 views on YouTube within two days of being posted. The song itself reminds me almost of a folky The Kooks but I think that’s just the vocals. I really dig the banjo and the stand up bass though, check out the video for yourself below:

Folk

[Hip Hop] Danny Brown- Grown Up

Posted by Ricky Stephens - March 28, 2012

Detroit rapper Danny Brown begins the flux of summer jams with his new track “Grown Up”. The track is upbeat enough to lift your mood and nostalgic enough to get you thinking about “the good old days”- in Danny’s case the two equate to how much money he had verses how much he has- and the life those monetary standings could provide him. For me, though, it’s all about playing video games with my cousins because when you never really realize you’re poor until you’re all “grown up”. It’s a killer track, listen to it:

Danny Brown – Grown Up

’Danny Brown – Grown Up’

Download

Hip/Hop

[Indie] Swimwear Yeah – Easy High

Posted by Ricky Stephens - March 28, 2012

Today I bring to you a feel-good track from Tim Derricourt’s (of Dappled Cities) solo project. The track itself, titled “Easy High”, is a summery, but mellow, representation of all Swimwear Yeah‘s music, which Derricourt describes as “wild, camp dance music”. While the EP is a little more quick in tempo, “Easy High” is an easy highlight of the release. Stream below:

Alternative/Rock

[Remix] M83 – Reunion (Mylo Edit)

Posted by Ricky Stephens - March 27, 2012

M83 has recently announced that they will release a new EP, titled Reunion, on May 8th via Mute. The EP will revolve around ideas established in “Reunion”- the second single from their sixth studio release titled Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming. Rumored to be around seven tracks long, the EP will provide a new perspective on the track from artists like: The Naked, Famous, Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr., Sei A, Polly Scattergood, White Sea, and Mylo – featured below.

Remixes