We always love writing up live sessions like this. There’s a raw, emotive, and pure essence that sometimes just can’t be found in the highly polished releases that go through countless sessions with mixing and mastering engineers. Today, we’re bringing you just that–a first live look from a promising, young, Swedish artist Buster Moe.
With a recently-released, debut EP through PRMD, it’s already evident that this 24-year old is on his way to becoming a household name. We can’t help but feel like his story might come to resemble that of James Bay, who went from cutting his teeth in the blogosphere to a meteoric rise to stardom. Don’t believe us? Take a look at the video below and see for yourself.
His vocals carry the weight of an old soul, and in this offering, coalesce beautifully with some rhythmic acoustic guitar work. The end result culminates in a listening experience that should have you feeling some warm-n-fuzzies and sore cheeks from an ear-to-ear smile.
Following his 0:00 EP, midnight teamed up with Majestic Casual for a brand new tune that marks a continuation stemming from the project’s second track, “Absolute”. He croons:
You’ve seen the way that they look at me but / you’re not afraid, you wanna stay / you’ve seen the way that my mind can be / you’re my savin grace, you keep the devil away
midnight’s trademark has always managed to juggle being smooth, being aware, and combining both of these aspects to blaze his own path in the ever-colliding worlds of electronic music, R&B, and pop. The revamped production courtesy of Karnaval Blues constructs a complementary vision to the crisp falsetto delivery of midnight in the instrumentation, building a solid foundation around his vocals with a measured tact. midnight continues to create relieving and soothing tunes time after time, and “Absolute Reprise” is another winner. Majestic Casual hooked us up with a free download here.
I first came across Moses Sumney during an intimate headlining performance at this year’s Form Arcosanti festival. Given the crowd’s tangible excitement, I was surprised I hadn’t yet heard much about the LA-based singer/songwriter. His performance was haunting and emotionally intense leaving the audience fully entranced. In combining ambient, slow-building soundscapes with beautiful, heart-wrenching vocals, Sumney has proven himself a force among new wave soul/R&B artists and the music world has taken notice. He’s joined James Blake on his recent tour (a bill made in heaven!), will be featured on Solange Knowles’s upcoming album and has been co-signed by Sufjan Stevens among others.
Aside from his work with prominent artists, Sumney is gearing up to release his Lamentations EP on September 30th and today he dropped the latest single, “Lonely World.” The 5-minute track, which features superb bass work from Thundercat, starts with a stripped-down instrumental leaving Sumney’s vocals to draw the listener in. As the instrumentation fills out, you’re taken into a state of hypnosis only broken by an intense, layered closing. It’s a track that I’ve already listened to 10 times and chances are you will have too by the end of the day. Give it a spin above and check out the music video after the jump. Continue reading →
When I first laid ears on “livelove,” I was instantly transported back to my mom’s old minivan, cycling through that iconic collection of Marvin Gaye, Al Green, Curtis Mayfield tapes over and over again while we went to and from school. There’s an undeniable connection there that I just can’t shake, not that I would ever want to.
This brand new, debut tune is coming your way from LA-based, singer-songwriter clayton, who’s bringing a fresh perspective on classic soul styling that he’s self-dubbed Soul Nostalgia. The evocative air surrounding it is hard to look past, considering the classic, clean guitar work, silky smooth vocals, and a bassline with just enough funk. In addition to the instrumentals, which are written and performed entirely by clayton himself, we also have a strong, positive sentiment in the lyrics that’s overwhelmingly welcome, especially given the current state of the world.
If you’re feeling this tune, make sure to follow clayton over on SoundCloud. His handle is appropriately named “claytonluvsu,” so he won’t be hard to find. If you do struggle, though, just click here, and show some love back.
So we have Taco Tuesday coined already but what about Tunes-day Tuesday? Eh, eh? Ok, so it doesn’t have the same ring to it…at all. But here’s a list of tunes that are just as good as some tacos to get your though Tuesday. (We tried).
International fame and critical acclaim have attached themselves to everything Ta-Ku has released for an unprecedented amount of time. With a stacked resume of late containing the release of Songs to Break Up To in late 2013, the foundation of Create & Explore, releases under the moniker HWLS, collaborative efforts with HW&W and Street Dreams Magazine, while also having a hand in the success of Australia-based Weston’s Barbershop, the Perth trendsetter has been hard at work creating a multimedia empire off of his many talents. Your favorite Music Ninja writers has covered multiple Ta-ku releases over the years: Frogs, I Miss You, Down For You, Long Time No See, Love Again, No Reason, and Help Me Lose My Mind. His June 2015 release – appropriately titled Songs To Make Up To – exceeded all expectations in its depth and composition. As impressive as his catalog has been up to this point however, the recently released EP may overshadow them all in complexity – thanks to the lyrical infusion.
Median, stylized as (m)edian, is a concept album in the form of an EP; it’s short, succinct and tell a formative story of the dual protagonists Ta-ku and Wafia. Starting in 2015 and after much collaboration, the duo, Regan Matthews and Wafia Al-Rikabi, released their breakout take on Estelle’s “American Boy” with their aptly titled “American Girl, along with a collaboration with Charles Murdoch on “Frongs”. Shortly after, they debuted their joint live act during Ta-ku’s MoMA PS1 show. This spawned the duo’s (m)edian EP sessions in early 2016 that also included Wafia’s trusted collaborators Thomston and Ben Abraham. After solidifying a bond around their experiences with their fathers, they poured those feelings into (m)edian, which resulted in a raw confessional that unearthed a bedrock of complicated emotions.
Lyrically, the album focuses on several themes: strength in the face of adversity, maintaining a balance emotionally, and the space between familial love and forgiveness. As one of our first glimpses at Ta-ku the vocalist, the dynamic range of his singing is a welcome addition to the repertoire. While listeners are processing the limitless talents of Ta-Ku, Wafia comes into the fold, seductively harmonizing her lines intermittently throughout Median. On the introductory track, “Treading Water” a sparingly light sequence of piano keys sets the scene, before a dynamic lyric-infused ballad takes hold and finishes painting this masterpiece. Tracks two and four act as instrumental bridges between one, three, and five – accentuating the storytelling vibe of the album. Taku and Wafia sat down with TMN to discuss their experiences putting the album together, as well as inspirations behind the project, in great detail: Continue reading →
Compared to his modern contemporaries, Jesse Boykins III stands head and shoulders above the rest and has a firm grasp on the title of ‘most talented male vocalist’. Taking up the mantle left open by the likes of MusiqSoulchild, JB3’s releases are the blueprint, the vehicle to, and representation of soul music in 2016. Pulling from an eclectic array of themes such as neo-soul, R&B, reggae, hip-hop, and jazz, Boykins has mastered the feat of flowing interchangeably across musical realms. Further, his success and assimilation into each of these genres leaves listeners wondering if he is redefining them all.
Following up a wildly success 2014 LP titled Love Apparatus, Jesse Boykins III has unleashed his latest album August 1st. At first listen, BARTHOLOMEWstands up against its predecessor and will certainly age well by touching on classic themes throughout. While the album has features from the likes of Noname, Little Simz, Willow Smith, Syd, Mick Jenkins and others, his best work is done on a solo piece. The standout track of the collection, “Earth Girls” also serves as the introduction to BARTHOLOMEW. Playing softly into existence with an emotional piano loop, Boykins’ unmistakable voice harmonizes the lines of the chorus before leading into the ballad that is verse one.
Jesse Boykins III’s full length work BARTHOLOMEW can be downloaded via WeTransfer here. Lucky readers living in New York will also get a chance to see the album performed with his live band The Beauty Created at the Brooklyn Bowl on August 17th – tickets can be found here while they last.
