XV... Just Killin it "Learn to Fly"

Over the years many artists have come and gone, making consistency the number one attribute I look for in new musicians. The one rapper that has yet to disappoint the SG music team is XV. "Learn to Fly" is the first leaked single from his EP L7 which is slated for release in 2012. The track features an electro influenced beat that we are used to from Xv and a pretty sick hook sung by Betty Trouble, (who seems like a good time). XV's popularity is clearly growing as he has made a big stir on the short list for XXL mag's "Freshmen" list for 2012. Although this would be a huge honour for the kid, I just hope it doesn't ruin the individual sound that we've been getting from Mr.Vizzy for the past year. XV is just so unique to me, as he is able to make some serious heart felt tracks like "The Kick" but then comes at us with absolute party jams like "foreign exchange student". The kid's mad talented and I will be patiently waiting for the L7 EP, until then here ya go... enjoy

iSH - So Long

So at the start of this week when I posted Carousel’s new album, 26 Allston, I signed off with the line “I’m sure we’ll hear this sampled and remixed soon enough,” and I’ve already been proven right. iSH, a Toronto based rapper that was featured recently on SG, is continuing his domination of recently released indie rock/electro, putting a few verses on top of one of Carousel’s stronger tracks from 26 Allston – Here Right Now. iSH is on his grind right now, with an ear to the industry like no other, being able to keep on top of the latest tracks and re-releasing them for free as soon as possible. This is buzz building mode people, as iSH has to get himself positioned nicely here before he releases his upcoming mixtape – Long Days, Short Nights – in early January 2012. Look out for it.

iSH – So Long


Carousel - Here Now

Daniel Lee Kendall - Lost in the Moment

I’ve recently been hearing Australian singer/songwriter Daniel Lee Kendall’s leading single, Lost in the Moment, sampled ever so slightly on a number of commercials. The subtle high hats combined with bouncing keys gives this song a warm, welcome entrance, which stuck on me and forced me to hunt it down. When I came across the success Daniel achieved based off these commercials, it was clear that having his song featured has now given him the opportunity to truly chase a life in music (with his featured track at 100k YouTube views & the rest of his music quickly rising from the ~5K it sat at prior).

This significant change got me thinking, who are these executives responsible for choosing music to place in the ads, and where do I sign up? The extent to which media is helping artists these days has simply grown to such a point that they should realize their power is starting to rival that of music labels. If they give artists the opportunity to showcase their work – whether this be through a commercial, or on a a larger scale in a show or movie – it can easily mean big things for them and their career, much past the feature itself. Although this path clearly places all the responsibility on the artist to grow themselves, when good choices are made and the right audience is exposed to the material, things always have a way of working out. See how Daniel Lee Kendall has responded to this newfound fame, with his re-released track Lost in the Moment below, as well as a video to follow. Recognize it?

Daniel Lee Kendall - Lost in the Moment

Album Preview: Steve Aoki - Wonderland

As Steve Aoki starts to release music from his upcoming 12 track album, Wonderland, we’re starting to see why he is considered to be one of the best DJ’s around - he works very well with talent. Although Aoki has a very upbeat trance-like style, he’s proven over time that he can adapt this to accommodate different artist’s styles and genres, without taking much from their sound. In the albums latest pre-release, Cudi The Kid, Aoki takes this exact approach, still making his mark with Travis Barker handling all of the procession and leaving Cudi’s voice unedited (for the most part).

Travis Barker has personally been one of my favorite musicians since a very young age, as I was obsessed with playing the drums growing up and he always was able to stay relevant and push the envelope. Typically this has been much harder for drummers to do, (ie. How many famous solo drummers do you know), but Travis has always been able to carve himself a niche. Whether this has been offering drum lessons to fans and pros when he was a part of Blink 182, providing real beats for hip hop samples (Game, RZA, Drake), or crushing to a set to techno music, Barker has always found new ways to kill it (I mean listen to that cowbell). Aoki doesn’t just stop at Cudi and Barker for talent though, as the feature list is long on this album, including Chiddy Bang, Rivers Cuomo, Wynter Gordon and many more.

When DJ’s collaborate with artists and add their own value like Aoki’s been doing here, it shows why he’s considered an artist and not a producer – which is quite the difference when all is considered. Aoki has already spilled a few tracks from this EP, including the songs listed below. Get hyped, Aoki will also be in Toronto on New Years, playing a show at the Guvernment/Koolhaus. Bound to get cray.

Steve Aoki ft. Kid Cudi & Travis Barker – Cudi The Kid


Steve Aoki ft. Chiddy Bang & Lil Jon – Emergency

Mac and Devin Go To High School - Soundtrack

Wiz and Snoop dropped the highly anticipated soundtrack to their movie "Mac and Devin Go To High School" today. Though I'm not surprised or blown away by it, I have been jamming out pretty hard. Snoop described it as "something to relax to and get you through the day," and I couldn't agree more, the soundtrack is low key and a lot of fun to listen to. When I found out about the project, I anticipated, having grown tired of their Shtick, that it would be way to similar to what Method Man and Redman did with "How High", but I was very wrong. There is something about the familiarity of their flows, combined the almost comic, "420" based subject matter that makes me want to forget it's exam season, throw on my floppy-eared winter hat and jam out. Scope some early highlights below from the soundtrack including a nice feature from a personal favourite Curren$y.

Snoop Dogg & Wiz Khalifa - OG (Feat Curren$y)



Snoop Dogg &Wiz Khalifa - That Good

Adventure Club - "Collect Call"

The Montreal native dubstep duo, Adventure club, has been making their way around southern Ontario recently, warming up for their larger tour cross Canada and dipping into the states. A few weeks ago I attempted to go to one of these shows, but traffic issues kept the group from making their appearance. If they had been able to get there, I would have been privy to the track the duo has officially released tonight, a remix of Metric's Collect Call.

I've been waiting on this track to be exposed for a while, as it's perfectly aligned with Adventure Club's focus to use powerful female vocals worked into their web of dubstep. This duo has showed good examples of this in the past, taking Lips' Everything To Me and Flight Facilities' Crave You to new levels, the latter being a song I thought I preferred untouched. With this duo about to take their music nationally, it seems this is the point where they make it, if they're going to. See below for their latest remix of Collect Call as well as the other tracks I mentioned, then check these guys out when they come around to your city - New years at the Sound Academy with Mord Fustang sounds pretty tempting to me...

Metric - Collect Call (Adventure Club Remix)


Flight Facilities - Crave You (Adventure Club Remix)

Lips - Everything To Me (Adventure Club Remix)

Concert Review: Macklemore + Ryan Lewis

When Macklemore and Ryan Lewis made their way to Toronto's Mod Club on Saturday night for their first gig ever in Toronto, the SGM team was there to check out the show. I'm not going to waste any time with background info here, as the hip hop duo has been featured on Straight Goods Music a couple of times now, (and if you've never heard of them, hit up those SGM archives because you're in for a treat).

Macklemore is known as a passionate artist, who really cares about his music. When he was on stage this showed clearly, as he was on point and energetic, seeming a little surprised to find out how faithful his Torontonian followers are. Ryan Lewis' on stage antics were very reminiscent of Sabzi (from Blue Scholars) as he was constantly involved with the crowd, as well as helping out with vocals and just going crazy. I knew going into the show that there was bound to be some hardcore fans watching one of the most energetic hip hop performances, but due to the fairly youthful crowd, stage diving and crowd surfing, it seemed to get out of hand near the end. Now I'm not one to hate on energetic fans because that is what it's all about, but if you decide to get up on stage, go for your stage dive. I don't really care to see 7 kids posing for their buddies in the first row to take a cell phone picture, just so everybody will believe them when they post on facebook that they were on stage. Overall a great show, oh and the live trumpet was damn cool.

Check out the video for their fall tour and I would definitely recommend you get out to Macklemore & Ryan Lewis when they're in your area - if you haven't already missed them.

Carousel - 26 Allston

Indie music is becoming more and more popular these days, (ironic, as indie represents independent). With groups like Foster the People, M83, Metric and the Naked and the Famous leading the charge, indie music has been able to penetrate society like never before. This has made room for different sub styles in this musical landscape to emerge, such as the soft rock/electro group Carousel.

Carousel is a group of friends that met up at the Berklee College Of Music (yes, of the same orchestra that DJ Premier lead), and have since used their talents to mesh together the pulsing synth of electro with the intricate melodies of indie rock, to find their strong curiosity-peaking sound. I always like when I come across groups with formally trained musicians in their corps, as it usually means they will have a fairly consistent sound throughout all their music, rather than relying on singles that come through the luck of experience. This is the case with Carousel's latest 5 song EP, 26 Allston, which they just released for steam or download off their website. Definitely worth checking out - I'm sure we'll hear this sampled and remixed soon enough.

Carousel - The Thrill


Carousel - Get Up


Carousel - Games

Kid Cudi & Dot Da Genius - WZRD

 It looks like Kid Cudi is getting a little unsettled in his current style of music, so he's attempting to switch things up once again. Cudi is teaming up with his long time producer, Dot Da Genius, claiming to be making a different hip hop album - influenced purely by punk rock. Now called WZRD, this duo has quite a bit of experience working together, operating under the name, 2 Be Continuum, for most of their earlier work (including the albums that got Cudi famous). Taking a note from Will Smith, WZRD is said to keep it clean and include no vulgar language, further showing how Cudi tries to distance himself from the rap community.

Cudi just released the single for WZRD, Teleport to Me, which features him covering the all too common problem of distance, over Desire's Under Your Spell (which also made an appearance in the movie Drive). With samples taken from Synthpop groups like Desire, and the only appearance coming from Empire of the Sun, I'm not too sure how WZRD is punk rock, or why Cudi wants to label it, but it interests me regardless.


WZRD - Teleport to me


Desire - Under Your Spell

Concert Review: K-os at the Casbah, Hamilton

As someone who loves live music, living in Hamilton really puts you at a disadvantage when it comes to good concerts. So when I found out at 9:30pm last night that K-os was at our very own Casbah we obviously jumped on the opportunity. Probably the best 15 dollars I have spent in a very long time. Maybe its because i've been reppin the Canadian kid since the superstar pt.zero days or simply because the man put on one hell of a show... who knows. Either way the quality of live show K-os put on was astonishing. The live instrumentation was incredible and his DJ was doing some nasty things on the turn tables. And if your not a K-os fan, here's a great place to start.

Miike Snow - Devil's Work

Sorry shoutbox, exam season means surebuds is the only one with the time to write novels and I have to share this one. Miike Snow is coming out with a new album in the near future, this song is the first single off of it. 

Olu- This Girl

I heard this song this mourning and honestly can't get it out of my head. It almost sounds like Olu stole this beat from an 80's james bond movie but the killer brass section is pure genius. I have no idea where the sample is from but when I listen to it all I can see is a guy with a sweet mustache shredding his Keytar while playing at someones wedding. Olu goes through stages of choosing the sickest beats for his flow and this one is no disappointment.... and yes this song makes me wanna watch sexy sax man and grow my moustache back.

Olu-This Girl

Artist Update: Luke Christopher- "Poisonous Apple"

After finding rapper Luke Christopher last year, the 18 year old has been pretty quiet... well until now. Luke released his teaser video for the track "poisonous apple" that uses a dope sample of Common's track "Driving Me Wild" featuring Lilly Allen. Although its hard to out spit Common on his own beat the kid makes a damn good attempt.I also found a sick summer jam that he released a while ago but none-the-less it helps me remember the good ol' times... Apparently the full mix-tape is coming out soon so enjoy these two for now.

Logic - Young Sinatra (Mixtape)

So I Finally got around to checking out up-and-coming Maryland based emcee Logic’s mixtape “Young Sinatra” and I’m impressed. Logic brings an effortless flow to a solid tape definitely worth checking out if you’re looking for a break from all this dubstep/electro hip-hop. I’m looking forward to see what he can bring in the future. Here's a couple early highlights from the tape.

Logic - Shine On

Logic - Mind Of Logic (Feat. Camille Michelle Gray)

Savoir Adore - Dreamers (Feat. Ish, Remixed by Xaphoon Jones)

Originally this post was just going to be about iSH, a Toronto based rapper with quite the backstory - making his return from a year long hiatus yesterday, dropping the upbeat track Dreamer. After listening to the song a few times, I couldn't help but think that I recognized the beat from somewhere though... so I did a little digging and found a trail of samples to a great song that slipped my mind, from dream pop duo, Savoir Adore. I'll get to that in a minute though, iSH still deserves his respects.

When I came across iSH a little while back, I thought he was just another random college kid who wanted to start rapping, so I didn't give him too much credit. You should always listen to someone's story before judging though. iSH (Ishan Morris) was born a Canadian to a Jamaican father and an Irish mother, and thus spent most of his childhood split between Jamaica and home. Once he got his legs under him he didn't hesitate, attending the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and starting his music/acting career (appearing in a few TV shows and a role in Saw 3). After graduating, iSH went on with music to release his first mixtape in 2010, The Name Is iSH, effectively making his mark, but then promptly falling off the map. iSH is now officially back, releasing Dreamer and announcing his debut album, The First Impression, for 2012. Keep an eye out for this one (is Toronto blowing up?).

iSH - Dreamer

As I alluded to before, after hearing this track a few times I got stuck on how familiar the sample sounded. When I looked into it, I found that Xaphoon Jones had just released his remix of Dreamers by Savior Adore on November 11th and iSH had immediately jumped on it. After Xaphoon's success with Chiddy Bang, he's consistently released solo efforts that have been interesting and worth more than one listen, but it wasn't the remix I recognized.

Savoir Adore - Dreamers (Xaphoon Jones Space Horn Remix)

Savoir Adore is one of the artists that the label Neon Gold (think Passion Pit, Ellie Goulding, Gotye), has been promoting heavily through many mediums - including into the SG mailbox. This is where I first heard the track, but it must have slipped away in this dream of a life I live, (meaning I generally have no idea what's coming next, rather than perfection). The group's self proclaimed "Fantasy Rock" style is justified by their hard hitting pallet for warm adventure pop, with a smooth clash of distinct male and female vocals. The two best friends, Paul Hammer and Deidre Muro, record as a 2 piece, but Savoir Adore performs with up to 6 members live. Their music seems to be good no matter what light you put it under, which is always a sure sign of a good thing.

Savoir Adore - Dreamers

Deadmau5 and Nokia

Last night, Deadmau5 (think I’ve heard of him before) teamed up with Nokia to celebrate the release of the Lumia 8000, putting on a free, short and really expensive light show/concert. Deadmau5 doesn’t throw anything out of the ordinary at us but the light show is pretty damn cool. London’s Millbank tower saw 800 of its windows covered in vinyl for the 16 projectors to display a pretty impressive 3D show from 300m away. Check out the video below.

Following: Star Slinger

Star Slinger, an electro producer from the UK, has been noticing the recent success of A$AP Rocky (among other artists) and has gone ahead and given them his eclectic touch. Star Slinger takes on songs that don't particularly have weak production and always seems to come out with something interesting - regardless if it's completely different. The fast paced additions he adds to the music he chooses seems to breathe it life while not taking too much from it, which can be a problem with this kind of refixed material sometimes.

Star Slinger's relationship with artists seems to be working both ways for him though, as he was approached by Gambino to rehash Freaks and Geeks and Drake gave him a nod for his efforts on Over My Dead Body, the intro to his most recent album, Take Care. I'm always sort of perplexed with how fast these artists get their remixes to field so quickly, but I guess that's all a part of their game, you don't want to miss an opportunity.

A$AP Rocky - Peso (Star Slinger Remix)

Drake - Over My Dead Body (Star Slinger Remix)

Childish Gambino - Freaks and Geeks (Star Slinger Remix)

A$AP Rocky - LiveLoveA$AP

If you've heard A$AP Rocky and his crew yet, you may have wondered who these guys are and where they suddenly all came from (like me). A$AP Rocky aka. Rakim Mayers, (supposedly after Eric B. & Rakim) was born in the Bronx, raised in Harlem, and thus has some ingredients to be a legit street rapper... yet he has much more momentum than usual for his position. The A$AP crew has a story for all this buzz though, as Rakim has recently landed one of the biggest deals for an unsigned artist, with Sony/RCA giving him a 3 million dollar budget to sign his crew, A$AP Worldwide, to an album and to make a solo project for himself. It may be offsetting to see a seemingly unknown artist get so much given to him when he hasn't been proven yet, but that's the route the industry has taken these days - people are hungry for new material. Download A$AP Rocky's first mixtape, LiveLoveA$AP and keep an eye out for the groups full album, these guys are still a question mark. It seems if you want something great to happen you need to take a risk sometimes.

A$AP Rocky provides a little insight into his life in his interview with Fader, where they follow him around his newly claimed neighborhood in NYC. ASAP was originally named the Always Strive and Prosper crew, but it's not until they start talking about what it means to them that Rakim shows that he's a little deeper than he comes off, stating,

"[A$AP] stands for Acronym Symbolizing Any Purpose, that's why my shit say asap life, cause my shit is acronym symbolizing any purpose to life. You know what i mean, asap means life that's why the name of my album is liveloveasap. livelovelife. asap is life. everything is asap."

Hear a few tracks below from his mixtape and look out for A$AP Worldwide to be making things happen... they've got the money for it and producers are starting to flock.

A$AP Rocky - Kissin' Pink (Feat. A$AP Ferg)

A$AP Rocky - Trilla (Feat. A$AP Twelvy & A$AP Nast)

A$AP Rocky - Peso

Rapper QueST and His Electro Side Kick Mt.Eden

Over the years I have on and off again followed a variety of artists. Artist's such as J.Cole, Chiddy Bang, and Outasight apparently have received a variety of mainstream attention. But over time its an unfortunate product of having actual responsibilities that forces me to forget about certain artists.

I recently came across some new stuff from rapper QueST which features production from electro/dub step group Mt.Eden. The track The Walk is set by a glitchy sounding beat that is complemented by QueST as he spits complete awesomeness all over it. the fact that QueST sounds like Twista on steroids fits in well with an electro/dub step group producing his tracks. Although I'm not a huge dub step fan, the extent of the wobble wobble that I can handle is used in the track Still Alive (Where I Have To Go). The beat goes in the opposite direction and is just simply slowed to the point where QueST is able to absolutely tear it apart. At many times in this track I feel like I'm listening to spoken word, but I think it's this uniqueness in his flow that draws my ears to his music... enjoy

QueST - The Walk

QueST - Still Alive (Where I Have To Go)

Lupe Fiasco - Friend of the People (Mixtape)

Wild cover art. After listening to Lupe Fiasco's new mixtape a couple times my emotions are a mix between relief and joy. Let's be honest here, Lasers was not a good album, clearly there was some issue with Lupe's label pressuring him into recording a certain type of music and the end result was a bunch of lackluster radio singles. The Cool and Food & Liquor were great albums because they were essentially concept albums, meant to be listened to from start to finish if you wanted to get the full experience of the record. This mixtape isn't a concept album or anything like that, but it is entertaining. Lupe stays relevant rapping over the likes of M83, the Glitch Mob, the Bassnectar remix of Lights, Nero, and a few others. Lyrically, Fiasco is back to his politically charged style, except for some reason he comes off slightly less crazy on this project. Try out a couple of my early favourites below and download the rest here. Also, if you're interested in finding out the rest of the songs he goes in over, head to this link to see the back cover.

P.S. some of you may not like the third song I posted all that much since its kind of hectic but its got this Rage Against the Machine vibe that fires me the fuck up

Lupe Fiasco - The End of the World (M83 - Midnight City)

Lupe Fiasco - Super Cold (Glitch Mob - Bad Wings)

Lupe Fiasco ft. Dosage - Friend of the People (SebastiAn - Jack Wire)

RE:Generation Music Project

It was announced a little while ago that, in association with The Grammy’s, 5 of the most famous producers in the industry were paired with seemingly clashing genres for a documentary to “turn the tables on the history of music.”

To start, DJ Premier takes on a true classic as he’s provided a backdrop from the Berklee Symphony Orchestra (including Nas to keep him comfortable). That’s the simplest combination though, as music is further explored with Pretty Lights being matched with the sturdy country combination of Leann Rimes and Dr. Ralph Stanley, The Crystal Method paired with legendary R&B singer, Martha Reeves & the Funk Brothers and Mark Ronson creating some funk with an impressive jazz crew made up of members from Erykah Badu, Mos Def, The Dap Kings, Zigaboo Modeliste and Trombone Shorty. To top all of that off, Skrillex was set up with members of the great classic rock group, The Doors, to create some rock tech fusion - which turns out quite nicely.

Even if this move doesn’t create a new style of sound, it’s bound to widen some people’s outlook towards genres and this will inspire in its own right. As these producers blend, supporters from both sides should hopefully start to appreciate and find more music, which is always a good thing. Below you’ll find a track from each of the pairings which has already been released; I still don’t know what one I like best. A full documentary is set to drop early 2012 – support this kind of musical exploration.

DubFx - Live from the Streets

Every now and then I come across an artist with more than just music to offer. Whether this has been William Fitzsimmons' deep story growing up with blind parents or Suzanne Vega's perfect MP3 tuning pitch, with unique experience these artists set precedent and trend for the rest of the industry to follow. Recently by the way of a good friend, I was lucky to be guided to another one of these musicians.

Let me introduce you to DubFx. A vocal artist originally from Australia, who left everything behind a few years ago when he realized life was becoming too stagnant and the music was slipping away. DubFx quit his job and took to the streets of Europe, with only the support of his conscious rhymes and the rest of his voice to carry him from there. The thing with DubFx is that he creates every single dubstep/drum & bass sound in his music live on the spot, layering different vocal loops using only pedals and distortion. You think this would limit him, but it doesn't at all, as he links music together better than most artists do in the studio. This is a man that truly understands sound. Oh and by the way, DubFx isn't on the streets anymore - he's been running his own label and is now recording with artists on rooftops in Italy. Don't be afraid to chase your dream kids.

I'll let DubFx do his own introduction though with, Made, live from the streets of Bristol, UK.



Check that song and a few others below that carry the same heat. Don't be shy to watch the videos. Live music is usually best experienced when you can see it...

• DubFx - Love Someone [Video] 
• DubFx - Flow (Featuring Mr. Woodnote) [Video] 
• DubFx - Soothe Your Pain [Video]

Youth Lagoon

Youth Lagoon is good… I just recently came across twenty-two year old Trevor Powers’ dreamy yet emotion-ridden album called “A Year of Hibernation” and I can’t get enough of it. Check out highlights below and get your hands on a copy if you like what you hear.

Youth Lagoon - Cannon

Youth Lagoon - Posters

Youth Lagoon - Montana

Chiddy Bang- Ray Charles

With the anticipated release of their LP "Breakfast" slated to come out in February, Chiddy and Xaphoon lay some funkyness on us with their newest jam "Ray Charles. It's November, its dark at 5 o'clock and the coldness is just around the corner... it's only down hill from here. Thankfully tracks like this allow me to throw the headphones on and jam out. We've been following the boys of Chiddy Bang since the beginning of Straight Goods Music and they have been consistently putting out quality since. So if you've had a rough day at the office or mid-terms are getting the best of you, put some sun glasses on and get on your Ray Charles on. (you can leave out the Heroine addict part though... might not be a good life choice)... enjoy 

Ray Charles- Chiddy Bang 

Intuition - Old Enough (Video)

Its been a minute since we heard from one of my favourite names in the world of underground hip hop so its not surprising that new material from Intuition finds itself posted here on Straight Goods Music. The combination of Intuition and producer Equalibrium is akin to the genius that is Macklemore-Ryan Lewis (December 10th - Toronto, mark that calendar) in that the two complement each other's styles so well. The 'new material' that I speak of comes in the form of a video (unfortunately there is no download link available yet as far I know) for a brand new track titled Old Enough. To be completely honest I don't really understand the video, there's some sort of heist thing going on and there's a little kid in sunglasses that's married to a blonde bombshell.. Somebody explain this to me.
Regardless of my confusion over the plot line of the video, this song is the shit, can't wait for more music from this MC, who's near the top of my 'how isn't this guy more popular?' list

DubStep - Dillon Francis and Zeds Dead

Dubstep came crashing into my musical radar a couple years ago but it always left a sour taste in my mouth. I tried to give it a chance but it consistently left me looking for some sort of purpose, emotion or substance beyond smashing as many synths as possible at once. As much as I fought it, dubstep seems to be impossible to escape these days and I found it growing on me. True heavy hitting shit didn’t sit well with me until I found I.D.G.A.F.O.S. by Dillon Francis and White Satin By Zeds Dead which both acted as a stepping-stone into the genre. Dillon Francis sandwiches some fun dubstep with the most irresistible synth loop and White Satin is a prime example of what can really be done with the genre when put in the right hands.

Oh and I have to throw in this John Dahlback remix of Sneaky Sound System's "Big" (not dubstep but a Jam regardless)

Turn your headphones up!

Zeds Dead - White Satin

I.D.G.A.F.O.S. - Dillon Francis

Sneaky Sound System - Big (John Dahlback Remix)

Little Dragon - Ritual Union

 

It's fitting that our new writer, Gryph, started his blogging career on SGM with a post on SBTRKT, as the next post I had lined up is on the other feature from that drake song, Little Dragon. This group is made up of 4 high school friends, with Swedish-Japanese singer Yukimi Nagano's light vocals guiding the electronic synthpop of her Swedish friends. Recently I came across a little bit more of their downtempo music and it seems I've taken to the consistency of it all. Off their 2011 summer album Ritual Union you can find a lot more of this style, but don't be shy of delving into their two previous studio albums - as this groups been doing their part since 1996.

Little Dragon - Ritual Union

Little Dragon - Little Man

Little Dragon - Looking Glass (off the older album Machine Dreams)

SBTRKT + araabMUZIK

Straight Goods Music has always been a staple blog in my quest to find every good song this planet has to offer. From Hip-Hop through Electronic over to Indie Rock and Acoustic, the boys have been spoon-feeding us all some of the finest for our ears to feast on. With that off my chest I’d like to introduce myself as the newest member to the SG team, (skip the next paragraph if you couldn’t care less who I am).

Since the rest of the guys hail from the same University I felt it only natural to name myself after my own (slightly superior) university's mascot “Gryph”. I grew up in Toronto where in my childhood I jammed out to the same stuff everybody else did. In high school I skipped through a couple genres with Hip-Hop being the main focus. I am now in my third year of Geography at the University of Guelph and my musical tastes seem to have developed a serious case of ADD. I’m sitting here trying to put words to what I listen to but it is proving a little tough so I’ll sit back and let my posts do that talking. Oh, and I’m T-Sedany’s younger brother.

BBC Radio 1 Essential mixes (Avicii ring any bells?) seem to be gaining popularity with some big names getting the time to showcase their skills on the decks for extended sets. About a month ago a friend of mine came across the band SBTRKT scheduled for an essential mix, I recognized the name later being reminded of the drake remix. After getting my hands on their self-titled album I realized that this was a special group with a sound that puts The XX's sound on a more electronic and upbeat scale. SBTRKT is currently on tour and I caught them in Toronto this Thursday at The Hoxton. Great show in a tiny venue with an opening act by araabMUZIK that absolutely blew my mind. Check out highlights from SBTRKT's self titled album, and while you’re at it give the araabMUZIK documentary a watch where he throws down on an MPC for the last couple minutes.

SBTRKT - Hold On

SBTRKT - Something Goes Right

Omen- Afraid of Heights Mixtape

Now-a-days I feel rap has become utterly faddy. Whether it is the electro influence that has come to consume pretty much all pop and a majority of new rap, some sort of dark wolf gang ish or of course the ever popular frat rap. As rap fans we have become consumed with these catchy forms of hip-hop. But for me rap has always been about one thing... passion. Being able to feel that the topic an artist is speaking about is the God's honest truth makes connecting to the music much easier.  Whether they are spitting real life shit or conveying passion through the art of story telling, sometimes I need some substance as opposed to fancy beats.

I've know this Omen character simply as one of J.Coles extended crew. With the release of " Afraid of Heights" listeners are able to get a feel for what Omen's all about. Have I completely dissected the album... of course not, I'm a student... I ain't got time for that shit, But I have found of couple of gems and would definitely suggest giving the album a go. Are you gonna find any friday night bangers... No, but  your definitely in store for some crafty lyricism... enjoy.

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Childish Gambino - "Heartbeat"

In case you haven't heard, Donald Glover aka Childish Gambino, is set to drop his highly anticipated album, Camp, a few weeks from now on November 15th. Glover is truly an artist with nothing to hide, having made his start as a comedian and actor through 30 Rock, Community, Derrick Comedy and a few other successful projects. Dropping a smash bros line in his single released last night, it's good to see he's still a college bro at heart - I mean, the name Childish Gambino does comes from a Wu-Tang name generator. The most recent leak from the album, Heartbeat, takes a justice style beat with Gambino on point, raw as usual. Glover's been doing a good job building buzz for himself so far. Look for this album to be his tipping point.

Childish Gambino - Heartbeat

Olu- 5am (Lily Allen Sample)

I was recently perusing the radio waves the other day and I came across this unreal Lily Allen sample. The unfortunate part of it was the fact that T-Pain was singing on it. I give the man credit for making his auto-tune business pretty damn popular, but my first thought when hearing this sample was "if only an actual rapper went off on this". Since the sexy voiced Lily Allen is apparently no longer making music, I assume that a vast amount of rappers will be utilizing her chilled out samples in the near future. But until then our old friend Olu has done his part to make better use of Lily's song. As I've kinda fallen off the block of blogging regularly, I have also fallen off following artists like Olu who unfortunately do not regular many popular music sites. I sometimes question his choice in beats but I do enjoy his flow, especially over beats like these... enjoy

Olu- 5am featuring Lily Allen

Cristil Flow & D.Glass.B - Straight Goods

A little while back I found a mixtape in the inbox titled “Straight Goods” from the rapper/producer combination of Cristil Flow and D.Glass.B. Since it had such a good name and they hail from Toronto, I gave it a run through right away – I’m glad I did. Cristil Flow’s line to line, laid back, rap keeps things relaxed throughout the mixtape, and the instrumentals do nothing but help. On select tracks Straight Goods also brings in a vocalist, Kyla Charter, to provide the hook, which adds even more soul to this duo’s sound. This is a cause I’ll easily lend my voice to, as it’s always good to find some solid core talent surfacing out of Toronto. Chris Stiliadis (Cristilflow) let me know the tracks below headlined the Straight Goods mixtape, but don’t hesitate to grab the full thing for yourself.

Straight Goods (Cristil Flow & D.Glass.B) – Where My Hand Sits (featuring Kyla Charter)
Where My Hand Sits feat. Kyla Charter by CristilFlow

Straight Goods – Don’t Know
Don't Know by CristilFlow

Straight Goods – One Shot (featuring Kyla Charter)
One Shot ft. Kyla Charter by CristilFlow

Gotye - Making Mirrors

It’s time to get a little eclectic again. Gotye’s been finding his way into my ears lately, with his hauntingly intense indie rock seeming to catch on repeat quite easily. Gotye (pronounced Gaulthier) is Wouter "Wally" De Backer, a Belgian-Australian, multi talented musician that creates instrumentals to brew like a quiet storm, adding his vocals to pierce and contrast perfectly. Gotye always seems to stay reserved while still having a gripping amount of passion, which is an unlikely combination…. But really is more common than you think.

Gotye released his third album, Making Mirrors, at the end of the summer and it has only seen positive reception so far. Gotye even got himself into the splendor in the grass music festival in Australia, which featured Kanye, Coldplay, The Mars Volta, PNAU, and Foster the People just to name a few. Fuck, should have got a plane ticket. Two tracks I find myself frequenting include Somebody That I Used to Know and his older Learnalilgivinanlovin’, which have both been remixed to perfection at this point. Always seems to happen with this core Sufjan Stevens/Animal Collective style of music.

Gotye – Learnalilgivinanlovin’

Gotye – Eyes Wide Open

Gotye – Somebody that I used to know (featuring Kimbra)