@@@ Olu Bliss: Traveling Bliss EP (As We Arrive, 2017) Today we are going to listen to bands that will be playing Afropunk 2017. I’m not a huge fan of soft, strummed blues folk but Bliss’ voice carries the day. The second tune (clipped below) goes full band (even horns!) but the vibe is still mad mellow with Bliss’ loose and soulful voice. The brother can sing.
@@@ Tamika & the Slay: Ugly EP (Self-released, 2017) Old school rockin’ r&b also from the Afropunk at the Knitting Factory advert. Ms. Tamika has a steamroller of a voice and she’s out in front of a burning band on this first tune. Full horn section, organ player, tambourine, they’re only short the cowbell. These guys may be smoking before the show but they’re washing it down with Red Bull as this is no sleepy ass shit. Let’s peep more. The second tune is a ballad but it builds to quite a crescendo. I’ve peeped parts of four tunes and the one below is the best.
@@@Duendita: Yikes! (Self-released, 2017) I’m not a huge smooth r&b kinda listener but this is a really nice track. The singer has a quirky voice that I enjoy listening to her. The mix has an appealing thickness to it that I dig. A simple arrangement of keyboards and laid-back guitar highlight her super sweet multitrack vocals (in places).
@@@ Shacar: Ghost (feat. Santos) (Paradice, 2017) A r&b single I got to via the same Afropunk semi-final show. It’s a simple arrangement with a simple tight beat, some piano chords underneath Shacar hitting the microphone. There is a break with some rhymes but it’s Shacar and a vocal guest singing really well. A focused, clean and funky track.
YTD recordings listened to: 488
Good music, not recommended for purchase: 266
Not good music: 200
Buys: 7
Honorable Mentions: 6
Possibles: Chris McGregor, Retox, Defeater, Jonwayne, Okkyung Lee, The Ballantynes, Slidhr, The Chewers, Toxic Holocaust, Susie Iberra/Roberto Rodriguez, Lenguas Largas, The Coral, T.O.M.B., Lozen, Erase Errata, Mastery, Leviathan, Hartley C. White, Weed, Cold Water, Janelle Monae, Luther Dickinson, Graeme Barrett, Fast Asleep, Goldlink, Cavanaugh, Gentleman Surfer, Satoko Fuji, Moken, Juan Atkins, Lantern, Twin Peaks, Djelimady Tounkara, The Oh Sees, Denny Zeitlin, MILF, Unfun, De La Soul, Carl Sagan’s Skate Shoes, Magrudergrind, A Tribe Called Quest, Noname, Gouge Away, Anna Hogberg, Klara Lewis, Krullur, The Lowest Form, Hard Proof, James Brandon Lewis, Yotoco, Jungle Fire, Sandoz, J.I.D., Oddisee, Forro in the Dark, RAM, Fiver, Dona Onete, Succumb Succumb, Gloom, Priests, Propaganda, This is the Kit, Roberto Gonzalez, Integrity
Deep In the Music 