TOP TRACKS OF THE MONTH: April 2015

Another month, another musical smorgasbord, meandering across genres and borders, taking in dancehall text messages in Jamaica, essential US hip-hop from B-Dolan and Andrew Broder + Crescent Moon, Krautrock from Salford, Rock from the Sahara and romantic blues, dub and electro from London. Actually London’s it’s own mini globe.

PLAYLISTS
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There’s a Whyd playlist below, or Soundcloud if you prefer.

Some highlights from the playlist:

WILL ADLARD – OH HEART THAT BEATS

“But there’s nothing like the sound of the neighbours
To make you feel alone”

His dad’s a blues musician, and the band he formed with brother Ed overcame being described as “a posh XX” by The Telegraph to secure an Ivor Novello nomination.
Will Adlard’s debut solo EP “Poleaxe on the ice” has been a year in the making and it’s a glorious combination of bluesy soul or is that souly blues? Notorious talent spotters Poejazzi recorded him live last year and described “Somehow” as “one of the most emotionally provocative tracks we have heard in a long, long while” (watch the live session below).
“Oh heart that beats” has more of an electronic feel than the rest of the EP, with a Kraftwerk-esque synth backing Will’s forlorn voice. Check Will’s bandcamp for the pay-what-you-feel EP and there’s a beautiful Bob Dylan cover, and

B. DOLAN – ALRIGHT

In the years since the last ‘official’ LP B.Dolan has slayed audiences worldwide, released an anthem to power reversal in “Film The Police” and casually dropped some of my favourite rap tracks on mixtapes but all that aside 5 years is a long time to wait! I can’t wait to hear the self produced “Kill The Wolf”!

Promising a fusion of live guitars, analog synths, violins and of course that voice and those lyrics. Dolan’s delivery on first single “Alright” reminds me slightly of Justin Warfield on Bomb The Bass’s classic “Bug Powder Dust”.

Pre-order packages (SIGNED CD, Vinyl LP, Cassette, MP3 & more) available at:tinyurl.com/KillTheWolfSFR
In the EU, pre-orders available at: tinyurl.com/KillTheWolfSpeechDev

 

For more Dolan watch his ODB tribute, it borrows the style and format of Bob Dylan’s “Who Killed Davey Moore?” to examine the brilliant, controversial and tragic arc of Russell Jones (AKA Old Dirty Bastard.) The repeated question of the song’s chorus demands an answer, though the verses suggest there might be enough blame for all of us to share.

BUSY SIGNAL – TEXT MESSAGE

I was going to suggest playing the follow phone technology with Busy Signal game as he had a hit with “Unknown number (private call)” in 2008 and now in all likely hood “Text Message” in 2015 but he messed the chronology up completely by releasing “WhatsApp” earlier this year (I’m not making this up).
Anyway Busy recently claimed to have recorded 976 songs in the 10 or so years he’s been a fixture on the dancehall scene and I’d say “Text message” is in the top 10 of those.
It’ll simultaneously bury itself in your head and make you reach for your phone as the various ring tones and whistles punctuate Busy Signals comedy tale of girls and texting.

GNOD – BREAKING THE HEX

Slaves to no-one but their own psychic co-ordinates, GNOD continue their fearless voyages down pathways unknown. Operating from their base camp and spiritual home, the legendary Islington Mill – a venue, art-space and liminal zone in Salford, Manchester.

WILEY – FROM THE OUTSIDE (Special Request Mix)

Grime legend Wiley spoils us with the second incredible remix of From The Outside, from his latest album, Snakes and Ladders. Following on from Actress’ epic remix, today we exclusively share this version from Paul Woolford aka Special Request. Originally produced by Teddy Music and featuring Teddy & JME, Special Request steps in to make his mark on the track, flipping it into techno/jungle banger.

TERAKAFT – ALONE (Ténéré)

‘Alone’ was born out of a need to maintain sanity in times of broken dreams and lies. It might be their most rock oriented album to date but at the same time it is their most poetic. Five years ago with their album “Aratan N Azawad” and even the follow up “Kel Tamasheq”, Terakaft was still full of hope, things had started to change. Today the soil that was supposed to blossom is burnt by selfishness and rivalry.

“There are too many characters in the picture, too many chiefs and not enough people”, says Diara when asked about the political developments in the last years. He used to sing political songs back in the days in his rebel youth when he was still playing guitar with Tinariwen. Nowadays he is only watching with a new feeling growing inside him: “Ténéré”, which is the title he gave to this album, and which translates to: “Alone”.

CHEE – ON THE BEECH DUB [Warrior Dread Remix]

This appears to be an advert for a monthly Caribbean disco party on an artificial beach near to the airport in Osaka, Japan.
If only more adverts came in the form of 80’s digital dancehall but then Japan does love reggae more than almost anywhere Jamaica aside.

DIBIGODE – LARANJA MADURA

“Garnizé” is the second album from the instrumental band Dibigode from Belo Horizonte/Brazil.

The record is an interpretation of the works of the great samba songwriter Ataulfo Alves.

STARFOXXX – OUR BODIES (Pixelord remix)

Pixelord takes the trippy pop psychedelia of Chicago’s Starfoxxx and turns it into an 8-bit anthem.

SALOMON FAYE