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There are Electro Melodies, and then There’s What Peter Lee Cooked Up in His Latest EP

Who doesn’t love a friendly keyboard? In my not so humble opinion not enough Electronica artists use the instrument’s nostalgically reverberant essence which can contort into atmospheric aural alchemy. Which is exactly what Peter Lee did with his latest EP ‘TESTING TIMES’. Whilst I wouldn’t ever care to hear another archetypal 80’s Electro revival, the soundscape that Peter Lee created was far from anything I’ve heard in the Electronica genre.

Track one ‘Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained’ is a mere appetiser to the dark, fuzzy groove of the layers of lush synth pierced by the deftly placed drum hits contained in track two ‘Nearly Never’ With his concluding track ‘In the Face of Adversity’ there was a dark tonality which served as an indicator towards the deeper more resonant approach behind the up and coming recording artists sound. Each instrumental track on the EP packs a palpably unique punch and comes alive through Peter Lee’s experimental production and composition methods. You really couldn’t ask for more diversity from a 3 track EP.

You can check out the EP for yourselves from September 6th, 2018 on Spotify. Until then, you can take my word on the decadently euphoric groove-addled release.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

The Katy – Livelihood: Jazz-Driven Urban Contemporary Pop

Every once in a while, you’ll stumble across a track that you never knew you needed in your playlists. Livelihood is the latest single from a Cleveland, Ohio based trio who infuse sounds from a myriad of genres to prove that there ARE new directions for music to take.

Their instrumental arrangements are nothing short of genius, and as for the vocals, if they don’t move you, then I’d be worried that you’re a little dead inside. Vocalist, songwriter and bassist Cathalyn has an overwhelmingly sultry vocal style which adds the perfect layer of harmony to the already viscerally sensual track. If all that wasn’t enough; the guitar riff which helps to draw the track to a close won’t fail to leave you in awe of the guitarists deftly melodic prowess.

I’ll never tire of hearing the haunting yet tantalising notes of an organ gliding over soulfully contemporary urban pop mixes. Yet, the up and coming, prodigally pioneering trio the Katy utilised the lucidly ethereal instrument in a way like I’ve never heard before with their funk-fuelled, Trap-driven urban offering of soulful Pop.

You can check out the latest single Livelihood by the Katy by heading over to Spotify now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Stony Bobby feat. Jammy – Hot Girl: Hottest Hip Hop Collaboration of 2018?

I love the disclaimer in the prelude to Hot Girl by Stony Bobby feat. Jammy is a ‘true story’, it brings an element of realism to the Hip Hop Rap track which you’re often hard pressed to find in the contemporary urban arena.

Yet, there’s something beautifully unique about the collaboration produced by Trellgotwings. I love how Stony Bobby and Jammy played around with elements of humour in the official video to Hot Girl, they certainly don’t take themselves seriously, but with their sound it’s a totally different matter. The old school 808 beat has a progressive Trap flow from start to finish. There’s a little more repetition in the lyrics than what I’d usually appreciate, yet with Stony Bobby’s unarguable charisma, I’m sure there aren’t many things he can’t get away with.

Hot Girl is just one of the tracks of Stony Bobby’s debut album ‘GOT THE GLOW’ which you can stream in full on Soundcloud

You can check out the official music video by Stony Bobby feat. Jammy on YouTube

Review by Amelia Vandergast

D’Z ft Freddi Lubitz – Conviction: The Soul Funk Track to Shape Up Your Summer Playlists

Conviction is an instrumentally sensual, and vocally resounding masterpiece of a track. Jazz fan or not, you can’t dispute that this track is packed full of poignantly orchestrated sound which is made even heavier by the sentimentality behind the track by D’Z ft Freddi Lubitz. D’Z’s New Orleans Groove Jazz Funk sound isn’t something that you’d necessarily expect to come out of the Netherlands, yet the Arnhem based songwriter, producer and drummer composed one of the most tantalisingly perfect anthems to introduce the summer. I can quite honestly say that never in Jazz Funk track have I been bowled over by the lyrics at the same time as the massive sound which creates an up-beat cacophony of high vibe electricity.

If you’re on the hunt for some feel good Jazz Funk you can check out Conviction by D’Z ft Freddi Lubitz on SoundCloud or through his website now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Metaspion – Old Rules Don’t Apply: Quintessentially Warming Folktronica

I can’t remember the last time an EDM put a smile on my face. There’s something charismatically warming about Metapsion’s new upbeat jangling track Old Rules Don’t Apply. The instance warmth and resonance of the track comes from Metaspions genius infusion of Folk and Electronica to create folktronica. You’d expect the combination of those genres would be like eating fish with cheese (yes people do that), but it works. It not only works, it’s absolutely beautiful, whilst being frustratingly hard to capture the essence of this magnanimous hit through my words, no matter how flowery they may be. Metaspion started out as a rock musician, but shared the same sentiment that I do, that there’s not really many more places you can take rock music without it sounding like a revivalist assimilation of sound. Unlike Metaspion, I was never going to be the one to break the wheel of the constant re-churning of sound.

You can check out Metaspions 2018 debut single Old Rules Don’t Apply on Spotify, whilst you get excited for his album release in May 2018

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Steve Obando – Babylon: A Pure Celebration of Island Flavoured Soft Rock Beat

With such palpable influences fluctuating through his sound Steve Obando has created a track which has the essences of at least a handful of icons within his latest debut track Babylon. Babylon will sound pretty familiar to fans of David Gray’s 2000 version of Babylon. David Gray’s version may have over 5 million hits on YouTube, but I have no doubt that Steve Obando’s sound will see him reaching even further thanks to his pioneering sound. His style is a beguiling mix of Pop, Folk, Soft Rock and a little bit of Jazz, which translates to sounding a bit like listening to Fleetwood Mac’s, Mumford and Son’s, and Gary Barlow all at the same time. The soulfully charismatically catchy lyrics bounce against his up-beat guitar hooks to create a sound of pure catharsis. Babylon is Steve Obando’s debut collaboration which is a pure celebration of his Southern Rock influences, orchestrated why compelling instrumentation.

You can check out Steve Obando’s frankly adorable official music video on YouTube

To buy the single, head on over to Steve Obando’s website.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

The Big Gun Show – Let it Shine: Anthemically Infectious Psychedelic Blues Rock

Whilst I’m not a massive fan of guns. The Big Gun Show is an America Blues Rock band that I can make no bones about saying they blew me away. I’m a suffer for a soaring guitar riff and some grittily Soulful lyrics to complete the sound. The rhythmic psychedelic edge to the track almost pertains a resonance to other Psychedelic bands such as The Beatles.  Yet the Big Gun Show are more than just an assimilation of nostalgic sound, they’ve mixed their penchant with the iconic with their eagerness to swim in the contemporary tides of sound to create truly spectacular Country Rock. Yet, I can’t help but feel that The Big Gun Show is too abrasive of a name for such a cuddly Rock sound. The band have all the raucous edge of the genre, at the same time as being ethereally uplifting.

You can check out Let it Shine on The Big Gun Show’s official website. The band will be taking their debut album on tour all across Texas for all you lucky Texan Blues Rock Aficionados!

Review by Amelia Vandergast.

MIIKØ – Waves: A Rhythmically Incandescent Portrait of Indie Pop-Folk

If you have a penchant for Pop-Folk; you’re in for a treat.

It is my absolute pleasure to introduce one of the most stunningly talented artists on the scene today.

Waves is the kind of track you take a breath and slip into; the ethereal harmonies bleed pure undistorted bliss. It’s a track that squeezes every ounce of Cleveland based Acoustic Pop-Folk Artists palpable passion into one sweet 3-minute duration. The blindingly talented up & coming Indie Pop enigma shows more promise than Pop artists that have been pumping the same diatribe for decades. It’s clear that MIIKØ took a pioneering approach to his sound to create a resonance that’s harder to find than a needle in a haystack. The rhythmic harmonies against the open and honest lyrics create an aural alchemy that many singer song writers could only hope to achieve. There’s such an incandescently bright soundscape behind his first EVER track Waves that it’s almost impossible to define. Because Waves moves, well, just like water, you can feel the flow of the sound, there’s no racing to the finish line, there’s no encroaching structure, there’s a fluidity you can just drink. That’s enough metaphors about the sea. Back to the track.

As the track draws to an end, it moves away from the tyranny of the plasticity of the Pop scene and for one beautiful moment you catch a break in MIIKØ’s vocals and nothing has ever sounded sweeter. In points MIIKØ’s vocals bore a sweet reminiscence to Marcus Mumford (Mumford and Sons). Who doesn’t love Mumford and Sons? For the most part of the track MIIKØ keeps his vocals incandescently light and breezy, full of texture and pure serendipity.

The best is definitely saved until last. The track faded out with one of the most harmonious piano keying I’ve heard since checking out Nils Frahm’s latest album. Against the upbeat acoustic chords twanging, the vibrant swirls of synthy effects and the piano, there’s no quicker way to heaven through the romantically Indie vibes.

My ears are defiled daily by sub-par acts all attempting to get out there and get noticed, yet there’s something refreshingly vibrant about MIIKØ’s sound, it’s one that doesn’t demand a hype, instead it’s intrinsically weaved into the sonorous layers of his debut single. I’ve said all I can without actually begging you to invest 3:30 minutes of your time in this empyreal sound. Which is totally not beneath me. So please, support your Indie recording artists & check out this stunning debut.

You can now stream Waves across all major platforms here

Review by Amelia Vandergast.

Craig Francis to release his debut single “Yours…Forever Yours…”

Yours Forever Yours is a power-packed soothing song that’s rooted in a mixed musical genre of house trance with a slight touch of pop and electronica. One of the most spectacular thing you’ll notice about this song is its scintillating beats which somewhat borrowed a cue from the French dance music legends, Daft Punk.

Craig Francis took his first leap into creating and composing music, and the result  is what we have here “Yours…Forever Yours”. The track ebbs and flows with a pop-music twang that early Daft Punk lacks, with the song also dropping into a darker and a more bass heavy groove that has clear influences from Enrique Iglesias, Linkin Park and Justin Timberlake. The artist has also had comparisons drawn with Justice, Gorillaz and Daft Punk. This of course showed that some of the aforementioned artist has a little bit of influence in his music creativity.

This is a very cool jam that’s poignant in every sense. Emotional sincerity shines through this track. His assurance of his musical prowess is evident in the limited number of melodically-conacious artist that’s featured on the song.

DDLVee – 9000 Yolanda: Trap Style Beats Wrapped Around Grittily Raw Lyrics

I often feel that within the Hip Hop genre, there’s a lot of people using their music as a shouting arena, but not actually saying anything. DDLVee is an artist whose music has a lot to offer, he’s not just making music for the sake of it, to end up in music video’s clutching a bottle of Hennessey. His music is as real and as raw as it gets.  The instantly lovable Rapper wrote and recorded his latest single 9000 Yolanda whilst he was living out of his car, yet it has the production quality of a track that’s been put out by a multi-platinum recording artist. His trap style beats perfectly wrap around the gritty realness of his lyrics that really bring you back to earth with a bump. DDLVee deserves all the respect in the world for putting himself and his story out there in a genre so rife in grandiosity.

Check out DDLVee’s debut single 9000 Yolanda on SoundCloud using the link below:

https://soundcloud.com/ddlvee/ddlvee-9000-yolanda/s-ydPkx

Show DDLVee some love and follow him on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/DDLVEE

Review by Amelia Vandergast